EXCHANGE 


SOCIALISM  AS  THE 
SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 


SOCIALISM  AS  THE 
SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

A  Broader  Basis  for  Socialism 


BY 
FLOYD  J.   MELVIN,  PH.D. 


Submitted  in  partial  fulfilment  of 
the  requirements  for  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  the  Graduate 
School  of  New  York  University. 


flew  lotfc 

STURGIS  &  WALTON 
COMPANY 

1915 


Copyright  1914 
BY  STURGIS  &  WALTON  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  March,  1915 


s\>r 


TO  MY  WIFE  AND  COMRADE 

EVA  ERNST  MELVIN 


PREFACE 

This  study  has  grown  out  of  an  attempt  to 
formulate  a  generic  definition  of  socialism.  De- 
scriptive definitions  there  are  a  plenty,  but  these 
have  the  obvious  shortcomings  of  all  descriptive 
definitions.  They  seem  to  present  little  that 
can  be  set  up  as  the  norm  to  which  all  variations 
in  the  socialist  movement  can  be  traced.  They 
are  naturally  not  in  entire  agreement  for  their 
terms  will  vary  according  as  one  or  another  as- 
pect of  socialism  is  stressed.  The  unfortunate 
result  of  this  is  that  all  discussions  of  socialism 
tend  to  degenerate  into  controversy  about  the 
meaning  of  the  term  itself,  and  not  infrequently 
lead  to  the  most  absurd  assertions  about  what 
socialists  want  to  do. 

In  order  to  clear  up  this  confusion  it  has 
seemed  necessary  to  seek  for  the  fundamental 
basis  of  the  socialist  movement,  its  grounds  or 
causes  in  the  general  social  situation.  Instead  of 
basing  the  socialist  system  on  the  formal  and 
rather  materialistic  science  of  economics,  a  la 
Marx,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  deduce  the 
social  system  required  and  ordered  by  the  more 
general  science  of  sociology.  Nevertheless  it  is 


PREFACE 

believed  that  the  whole  is  in  line  with  the  teach- 
ing of  the  best  socialists  of  all  periods,  and  that 
although  the  subject  is  approached  from  an  en- 
tirely different  and  apparently  hitherto  neg- 
lected point  of  vantage,  the  conclusions  of  "  scien- 
tific socialism "  are  for  the  most  part  simply 
brought  up  to  date  and  interpreted  in  modern 
terms. 

That  this  attempt  may  prove  of  value  in  lead- 
ing the  many  earnest  students  of  social  problems 
to  realize  the  real  nature  of  the  socialist  move- 
ment is  the  hope  of  the  writer. 

FLOYD  J.  MELVIN. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER   I.    INTRODUCTORY 3 

The  individual  and  the  state;  administration  of 
things  vs.  government  of  persons;  appeal  of  the  ideals 
of  socialism;  why  socialism  is  delayed;  socialism  is 
democracy  not  ochlocracy,  not  exclusively  working 
class;  socialism  as  the  sociological  ideal. 

CHAPTER  II.    VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED   .     .     .11 

As  opposed  to  philosophical  individualism:  individ- 
ualism not  opposed  by  socialists;  socialism  not  the  or- 
ganism but  the  organization;  the  derivation  of  the 
terms  responsible  for  the  supposed  opposition;  social- 
ism coordinate  with  individualism.  As  opposed  to 
political  individualism:  organization  necessary  under 
socialism;  socialism  complete  organization;  individual 
not  coerced,  organization  tends  to  become  unneces- 
sary; socialism  opposed  to  anarchism.  As  opposed 
to  ethical  individualism:  Christian  practice  impossible 
under  present  system;  social  responsibility  implied  in 
Christianity.  Socialism  to  be  defined  by  its  grounds 
and  causes  rather  than  by  its  plans  and  probable 
results. 

CHAPTER  III.    SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM     .     32 

The  social  unrest:  the  spirit  of  democracy — due 
to  developing  social  self  consciousness ;  socialism  an 
extension  of  democracy;  its  tendency  to  unify  society  £ 
"social  responsibility."  The  sociological  ideal  stated: 
its  fulfillment  in  socialism;  Characteristics  of  social- 
ism: organization,  socially  perceived  ideals,  intelli- 
gent decision,  democracy.  Pseudo-socialistic  activi- 
ties,— their  significance  for  socialism. 

CHAPTER  IV.    FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM:  SPIRITUAL  .     60 

Civilization:  socialization;  regard  for  justice;  elimi- 
nation of  chance;  systematization  of  endeavor;  ethical 
and  aesthetic  ideals.  Hurnanitarianism :  its  rise,  its 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

growth  assured;  its  demand  for  social  amelioration. 
Christianity:  socialism  is  applied  Christianity.  So- 
cial self  consciousness :  its  prototype  in  individual  self- 
consciousness ;  the  underlying  cause  of  the  rise  of  de- 
mocracy. "Class  consciousness":  requires  social  self- 
consciousness  as  a  basis;  is  reliable  because  based  on 
self-interest;  verges  into  social  self  consciousness ; 
satisfied  only  by  socialism. 

CHAPTER  V.    FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM:  MATERIAL  .     87 

Cooperation:  increasing  importance j  social  jus- 
tice required;  replaces  competition;  progress  toward 
cooperation.  Division  of  labor:  its  result  in  over- 
specialization;  its  inevitable  increase  under  capital- 
ism. The  factory  system:  development  of;  its  nature 
that  of  slavery.  The  introduction  of  machinery:  its 
effect  on  the  labor  market;  its  reaction  on  coopera- 
tion, division  of  labor,  and  the  factory  system;  its 
enhancement  of  capital.  Appropriation  of  all  avail- 
able land:  affects  all  classes.  Capitalism:  its  un- 
ideal  character;  not  self -destructive;  its  inadequacy 
as  a  method  of  control  of  industry;  its  tendency 
towards  industrial  monarchy;  the  alternative  between 
industrial  monarchy  and  industrial  democracy.  The 
trusts  and  the  labor  unions;  their  preemption  of  the 
field  of  government  in  industry;  their  functions  ab- 
sorbed by  the  socialist  state. 

CHAPTER  VI.    SOCIAL  CONTROL:  MEANS 125 

Purpose  of  a  self  conscious  society:  furnished  by 
intelligence.  Control  of  education:  socialism  the 
apotheosis  of  public  education;  product  subordinate 
to  producer;  distribution  of  the  product  according 
to  needs;  encouragements  to  education.  Control  of 
evolution:  human  evolution  a  matter  of  social  rather 
than  individual  concern;  natural  selection  checked 
by  humanitarianism ;  power  and  promise  of  such  con- 
trol under  socialism.  Cooperation  of  socialism  with 
individualism. 

CHAPTER  VII.    SOCIAL  CONTROL:  METHOD 158 

Natural  control  not  ideal:  warfare  the  primitive 
method  of  nature;  displaced  by  competition;  compe- 
tition is  indirect  warfare;  nature  replaces  it  in  the 
highest  realms  by  representative  decision;  the  prog- 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ress  of  method  through  the  stages  of  warfare  and 
competition  to  intelligent  decision.  Arena  of  debate: 
people  the  judges. 

CHAPTEE  VIII.    SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  .     .     .     .183 

Political:  democracy  demanded  by  "consciousness 
of  kind";  Socialist  Party  democratically  organized; 
scientific  political  adustment  requires  democracy. 
Economic:  condition  of  the  poor  bettered  by  them- 
selves under  democracy;  competition  in  industry  un- 
scientific from  the  sociological  point  of  view.  So- 
cial: equality  not  demanded  under  socialism  except 
as  prompted  by  ideals;  pro-social  qualities  favored 
under  socialism.  Religious:  Religion  of  Humanity; 
spiritual  freedom  under  socialism. 

CONCLUSION 201 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  .  205 


All  previous  historical  movements  were  movements  of  mi- 
norities,  or   in  the  interests   of   minorities.     The   proletarian 
movement  is  the  self-conscious,  independent  movement  of  the 
immense  majority,  in  the  interest  of  the  immense  majority. 
MAEX:    The  Communist  Manifesto. 

With  the  seizing  of  the  means  of  production  by  society, 
production  of  commodities  is  done  away  with,  and,  simul- 
taneously, the  mastery  of  the  product  over  the  producer. 
Anarchy  in  social  production  is  replaced  by  systematic,  defi- 
nite organisation.  The  struggle  for  individual  existence  dis- 
appears. Then  for  the  first  time  man,  in  a  certain  sense,  is 
finally  marked  off  from  the  rest  of  the  animal  kingdom,  and 
emerges  from  mere  animal  conditions  of  existence  into  really 
human  ones.  The  whole  sphere  of  the  conditions  of  life 
which  environ  man,  and  which  have  hitherto  ruled  man,  now 
comes  under  the  domination  and  control  of  man,  who  for  the 
first  time  becomes  the  real,  conscious  lord  of  Nature,  because 
he  has  now  become  master  of  his  own  social  organisation. 
The  laws  of  his  own  social  action,  hitherto  standing  face  to 
face  with  man  as  laws  of  Nature  foreign  to,  and  dominating 
him,  will  then  be  used  with  full  understanding,  and  so  mas- 
tered by  him.  Man's  own  social  organisation,  hitherto  confront- 
ing him  as  a  necessity  imposed  by  Nature  and  history,  now 
becomes  the  result  of  his  own  free  action.  The  extraneous 
objective  forces  that  have  hitherto  governed  history,  pass 
under  the  control  of  man  himself.  Only  from  that  time  will 
man  himself,  more  and  more  consciously,  make  his  own  his- 
tory —  only  from  that  time  will  the  social  causes  set  in  move- 
ment by  him  have,  in  the  main  and  in  a  constantly  growing 
measure,  the  results  intended  by  him.  It  is  the  ascent  of 
man  from  the  kingdom  of  necessity  to  the  kingdom  of  free- 
dom. .  .  .  Man,  at  last  the  master  of  his  own  form  of  social 
organisation,  becomes  at  the  same  time  lord  over  Nature,  his 
own  master  —  free. 

FBEDERICK   ENGELS,  Socialism,  Utopian  and  Scientific. 

In  Socialistic  society,  when  mankind  will  be  placed  upon  a 
natural  basis,  and  will  be  truly  free,  man  will  consciously 
guide  his  own  development.  In  all  preceding  epochs,  man 
acted  in  regard  to  production  and  distribution,  and  in  regard 
to  the  increase  of  population,  without  any  knowledge  of  their 
underlying  laws;  he,  therefore,  acted  unconsciously.  In  the 
new  society  man  will  act  consciously  and  methodically,  know- 
ing the  laws  of  his  own  development.  Socialism  is  science 
applied  to  all  realms  of  human  activity. 

AUGUST  BEBEL,  Woman  and  Socialism. 


SOCIALISM  AS  THE 
SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 


SOCIALISM  AS 
THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

CHAPTER  I 

INTEODUCTORY 

THE  question  as  to  the  proper  relation  between 
the  individual  and  the  state  has  always  been  a 
matter  of  much  speculation  both  to  philosophers 
and  to  practical  men  of  affairs.  An  inquiry 
into  the  subject  can  hardly  be  avoided  by  the 
student  of  economics  on  the  one  hand  nor  by  the 
student  of  ethics  on  the  other;  while  those  por- 
tions of  social  and  political  science  lying  in  be- 
tween have  the  various  aspects  of  this  question 
as  their  subject  matter. 

Just  how  much  does  individual  character, 
initiative,  ideals,  etc.,  depend  upon  the  struc- 
ture and  functions  of  the  state  in  which  the  in- 
dividual happens  to  be  born?  What  is  the  re- 
lation between  individual  morality  and  social 
righteousness?  Character,  as  we  know,  depends 
much  on  the  give  and  take  of  the  individual  in 
society ;  and  the  structure  of  the  state  affects  the 

3 


4         SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

society  which  is  one  of  the  factors.  Individual 
responsibility  may  be  lessened  or  increased  at 
the  mandate  of  the  state.  To  the  unthinking 
masses,  including  ofttimes  the  managers  of 
"big  business,"  the  statute  law  determines  the 
right  or  wrong  of  an  act  as  well  as  the  end  of 
action  itself.  For  as  life  is  the  constant  adapta- 
tion of  the  individual  to  the  environment,  it  is 
evident  that  the  social  environment  as  embraced 
in  statutes  calls  for  further  and  further  readap- 
tation  on  the  part  of  the  individual  continually. 
Moreover  the  individual  finds  his  larger  self 
more  or  less  adequately  expressed  in  the  state. 
The  welfare  of  the  state  is  hence  a  matter  of 
direct  personal  concern.  Patriotism  thus  be- 
comes an  end  in  itself.  But  at  the  same  time 
the  citizen  feels  justified  in  calling  upon  the  state 
to  assist  him  in  his  private  enterprises.  The 
idea  of  paternalism  thus  evoked  justly  excites 
alarm,  for  a  citizenry  seeking  private  aid  from 
the  state  is  the  very  reverse  of  patriotic. 

Yet  the  state  exists  for  and  by  virtue  of  the 
individuals  who  compose  its  citizenship.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  individual  does  not  exist  for 
the  state,  though  there  is  danger  in  the  opposite 
conception  of  the  state  for  the  individual.  It 
is  perhaps  in  the  combined  conception  that  the 
balance  is  struck,  best  expressed  in  the  maxim, 
— "  Each  for  all  and  all  for  each,"  with  the  final 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

emphasis  on  the  individual  as  the  object  of  all 
social  endeavour. 

In  the  light  of  these  reflections  it  is  odd  that 
socialism  has  been  accused  of  both  tendencies  — 
toward  the  tyranny  of  the  state  and  toward  the 
over-indulgence  of  the  citizens.  The  truth  lies 
to  one  side  of  the  whole  controversy,  as  we  may 
see  by  the  most  cursory  investigation. 

There  is  amazingly  little  necessity  for  govern- 
ment of  persons  if  we  have  an  all-embracing  ad- 
ministration of  things.  Things  are  adminis- 
tered, under  our  present  system  -of  government, 
by  persons  acting  in  their  individual  capacity. 
The  person  is  prohibited  by  law  from  certain 
acts  relating  to  property,  but  otherwise  things 
enter  but  incidentally  into  the  present  accepted 
province  of  government.  Governing  itself  is  of 
course  a  business  and  as  such  calls  for  some  in- 
come and  disbursement,  but  in  this  way  only 
does  government  enter  the  sphere  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  things.  It  is  chiefly  occupied  in  check- 
ing the  undesirable  activities  of  persons.  But 
if  the  administration  of  things  is  left  entirely  in 
private  hands  the  privilege  will  naturally  be  con- 
tinually abused,  thus  calling  for  further  repres- 
sive laws  continually.  This  is  awkwardly  trying 
to  get  at  things  through  persons,  an  inefficient 
plan  of  procedure.  We  confer  powers  upon  the 
individual  that  he  is  certain  to  abuse  and  then 


6         SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

devise  strict  laws  for  his  punishment.  The  so- 
cialist plan  is  quite  different.  Under  socialism, 
says  Engels,  "  the  government  of  persons  is  re- 
placed by  the  administration  of  things,  and  by 
the  conduct  of  processes  of  production."  * 

Socialism  is,  however,  rather  a  form  of  social 
organisation  than  a  definite  plan  of  administra- 
tion. It  does  not  lay  down  a  specific  method  of 
conducting  each  social  activity,  but  rather  pro- 
vides the  means  by  which  that  control  is  to  be 
exercised.  It  may  indeed  be  said  to  offer  the  so- 
cial application  of  that  idealism  which  has  fol- 
lowed as  a  reaction  to  the  realism  of  the  latter 
half  of  the  19th  Century.  There  is  for  instance 
the  ideal  of  economic  justice.  But  this  is  rather 
inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  means  provided 
than  a  principle  of  action.  For  if  any  malad- 
justment of  economic  justice  be  made  to  fall  on 
those  in  whose  power  it  is  to  remedy  it,  we  may 
suppose  that  the  remedy  will  be  promptly  forth- 
coming. Then  there  is  the  ideal  of  social  equal- 
ity; but  this  again  is  only  more  possible  of  re- 
alisation under  socialism,  not  more  necessary  to 
it.  Lastly  there  is  the  ideal  of  the  emancipation 
of  woman,  which  is  no  integral  part  of  the  so- 
cialist doctrine,  but  which  might  naturally  be 
expected  for  the  first  time  to  receive  adequate 
consideration.  For  all  of  these  ideals  socialism 

i  ••  Socialism,  Utopian  and  Scientific,"  pp.  128-129. 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

stands  as  a  convenient  means,  and  socialists  more 
or  less  avow  their  individual  intention  of  em- 
bodying them  in  the  institutions  of  the  socialist 
state. 

And  indeed  were  it  not  for  these  preconceived 
ideals  socialism  would  possess  no  appeal  to  the 
people  at  large.  It  is  through  these  concrete  in- 
stances of  the  sociological  ideal  that  socialism 
derives  its  strength  in  the  support  of  common 
public  sentiment. 

Sociologically  considered  socialism  is  that  form 
of  social  organisation  which  tends  to  extend  the 
field  of  social  control  to  all  matters  directly  af- 
fecting society  as  a  whole.  This  would  mainly 
be  to  embrace  the  control  of  industry,  which  is 
the  largest  field  remaining  conspicuously  under 
the  sway  of  anarchy ;  but  ultimately  to  cover  all 
matters  affecting  either  environment  or  heredity. 
It  is  society  acting  as  an  organised  unit  rather 
than  as  an  agglomeration  of  unorganised  indi- 
viduals. In  order  to  act  thus  it  must  first  be 
organised  in  appropriate  form,  and  secondly  it 
must  be  informed  with  purposes  sufficiently  com- 
mon to  permit  of  concerted  action. 

A  certain  degree  of  civilisation  is  necessary 
that  these  conditions  may  obtain.  But  this  has 
long  since  been  reached  and  socialism  has  been 
delayed  chiefly  by  the  machinations  of  the  privi- 
leged classes,  possessing  most  of  the  power  of 


8         SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  world.  These  have  been  able  to  maintain 
their  supremacy  so  long  because  of  several  rea- 
sons. They  have  provided  that  the  exceptional 
man  might  rise  into  their  own  class,  thus  ally- 
ing the  natural  leaders  of  revolt  with  themselves. 
They  have  appealed  to  the  gambling  instinct  by 
which  the  present  system  has  appeared  desirable 
on  account  of  the  rich  prizes  which  a  few  have 
been  permitted  to  obtain.  They  have  prostituted 
their  superior  culture  and  means  to  delude  and 
mislead  and  deceive  the  masses.  Finally  they 
have  thoughtlessly  maintained  a  system  which 
they  found  ready  made  and  which  so  admirably 
suited  their  own  needs.  Much  of  the  lack  of  so- 
cial progress  is  attributable  solely  to  inertia. 

Until  the  establishment  of  democracy  there 
was  nothing  that  could  properly  be  called  just 
government.  Previous  governments  were  nat- 
ural tyranny,  gained  and  maintained  by  force  or 
intrigue  from  an  authority  external  to  the  peo- 
ple. Real  government  as  opposed  to  tyranny 
arose  with  democracy  and  extended  only  so  far 
as  the  preservation  of  order,  was  negative  rather 
than  positive,  and  allowed  much  anarchy  even 
in  politics  and  still  more  in  industry  and  society. 
The  lack  of  popular  confidence  derived  doubtless 
from  experience  with  former  tyrannical  govern- 
ments is  well  stated  in  the  maxim :  "  That  gov- 
ernment is  best  which  governs  least." 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

Shall  this  natural  tyranny  be  displaced  by  a 
government  from  below?  For  tyranny  is  always 
presumed  by  its  apologists  to  be  a  government 
from  above.  But  democracy  need  not  mean  rule 
by  the  inferior.  It  involves  the  many  only  as  the 
jury  before  whom  are  argued  those  questions 
which  affect  the  general  welfare.  It  is  sharply 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  ochlocracy,  wherein 
persons  of  ability  and  talent  are  allowed  no  op- 
portunity to  exert  their  due  influence  upon  the 
common  mind.  It  may  be  objected  that  this  op- 
portunity is  sure  to  be  taken  advantage  of  by 
the  demagogue.  The  reply  is  that  the  dema- 
gogue must  be  met  on  his  own  ground,  and  con- 
quered. He  is  the  enfant  terrible  of  democracy. 
But  democracy  is  desirable  in  spite  of  him,  for 
it  is  the  only  escape  from  the  otherwise  intoler- 
able evils  of  despotism. 

Furthermore  socialism  is  not  merely  a  working 
class  movement  but  a  movement  to  abolish  all 
classes.  It  is  working  class  only  so  far  as  the 
working  class  has  most  to  gain  by  such  an  out- 
come. It  is  working  class  largely  only  because 
all  movements  for  securing  social  justice  for  the 
oppressed  must  spring  from  the  oppressed  them- 
selves. It  does  not  even  mean  that  the  leaders 
must  come  from  the  working  class,  but  merely 
that  every  proposed  measure  must  be  continually 
referred  to  them  for  approval. 


10       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

Socialism  is  broader  than  its  immediate  ob- 
ject, the  social  control  of  industry.  We  must 
press  on  and  inquire  from  the  socialist  why  so- 
ciety should  control  industry.  He  would  prob- 
ably reply:  in  the  interests  of  social  justice,  to 
avoid  social  despotism,  to  prevent  the  enslave- 
ment of  the  workers,  to  bring  about  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  etc.  Throughout  all  of  this  we  may 
note  his  abounding  idealism,  his  devotion  to  the 
cause  and  his  faith  in  its  ultimate  triumph.  This 
is  not  the  aspect  of  men  who  are  seeking  merely 
material  ends.  It  has  much  of  the  positive  zeal 
of  a  religious  faith. 

It  is  scarcely  reasonable  to  suppose  that  man 
will  rest  content  with  creature  comforts  once 
more  is  within  his  grasp.  It  is  a  libel  on  human 
nature  to  claim  as  much.  Socialism  is  as  wide 
as  man's  aspirations.  Its  aims  must  be  those  of 
our  common  humanity.  Hence,  as  has  often 
been  said,  socialism  is  as  strong  as  the  strongest 
presentation  that  can  be  made  of  it.  It  is  the 
writer's  contention  that  there  is  much  implied 
in  it  that  is  not  insisted  upon  by  its  usual  advo- 
cates ;  in  fact,  that  its  full  content  is  nothing  less 
than  the  summation  of  all  conscious  plans  for  the 
betterment  of  society.  It  is  the  actual  applica- 
tion to  society  in  a  practical  way  of  the  conclu- 
sions of  scientific  sociology, —  the  embodiment  of 
the  sociological  ideal. 


CHAPTER  II 

VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED 

THE  term  socialism,  as  commonly  used,  has  a 
signification  of  so  general  a  nature  that  all  at- 
tempt at  exact  definition  must  at  first  seem 
futile. 

The  various  propagandas  of  this  movement 
present  as  great  a  diversity  of  doctrines  as  has 
ever  been  upheld  by  the  various  sects  of  Chris- 
tians, in  ancient  or  modern  times.  But  social- 
ism, like  Christianity,  has  a  central  integrating 
principle,  by  virtue  of  which  it  possesses  a  work- 
ing unity  and  the  power  to  incorporate  new  ele- 
ments of  social  policy.  It  is  not,  as  too  com- 
monly supposed,  a  merely  accidental  agglomera- 
tion of  those  social  forces  tending  toward  a  "  so- 
cial revolution." 

It  takes  its  rise  from  a  single  great  sociological 
cause  and  embraces  only  those  demands  for  so- 
cial readjustment  that  spring  from  that  source. 
Nor  should  we  attribute  any  significance  what- 
ever to  the  propensity  of  the  undiscriminating 
to  group  together  as  socialistic  all  plans  for  so- 
cial amelioration  arising  from  "  the  social  un- 

11 


12       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

rest,"  for  among  these  are  included  such,  unso- 
cialistic  schemes  of  social  procedure  as  that  of 
anarchy  on  the  one  hand  and  that  of  Christian 
communism  on  the  other.  It  is  clearly  distin- 
guished from  the  former  by  the  critical  comment 
of  Guthrie  in  Socialism  before  tlie  French  Revo- 
lution,— "  For  the  anarchist,  the  betterment  of 
society  depends  primarily  upon  the  betterment  of 
the  individual,  while  for  the  socialist  the  better- 
ment of  the  individual  depends  primarily  upon 
the  betterment  of  society."  2  And  it  is  no  less 
clearly  distinguished  from  the  latter  by  the  as- 
sertion of  Dr.  Vedder  in  Socialism  arid  the  Ethics 
of  Jesus, — "  The  socialist  would  transform  man's 
environment,  hoping  that  this  would  work  a 
change  in  man  himself;  Jesus  would  transform 
man,  and  leave  him  to  deal  with  his  environ- 
ment."3 These  remarks  serve  indeed  to  point 
out  a  certain  similarity  between  the  two  propos- 
als as  well  as  to  distinguish  both  from  socialism. 
The  movement  which  we  are  to  consider  is  ex- 
tremely broad,  but  it  does  not  embrace  all  plans 
for  social  regeneration.  We  shall  do  well  there- 
fore to  define  socialism  first  by  contrast  with 
other  projected  forms  or  principles  of  social  ac- 
tion, and  follow  this  by  an  examination  of  its 
sociological  basis  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  generic 
definition  of  this  most  baffling  subject  of  inquiry. 

2  p.  17.  SP.  383. 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  IS 

Proceeding  then  to  a  consideration  of  the 
meaning  of  the  term  socialism  from  a  negative 
point  of  view,  we  may  first  note  that  it  has  quite 
frequently  been  held  to  be  opposed  to  individual- 
ism. Particularly  have  writers  of  a  philosoph- 
ical turn  of  mind  been  prone  to  adopt  this  view, 
and  in  some  cases  they  have  held  it  to  be  the 
very  negation  of  individualism. 

This  charge,  as  put  forward  by  Prof.  Ely  or 
by  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  for  instance,  seems  to  be 
based  on  the  assumption  that  under  socialism 
society  must  be  considered  to  be  of  the  nature 
of  the  organism.  This  is  a  serious  charge  if  true. 
For  in  the  organism  all  significant  individuality 
is  denied  to  the  constituent  parts.  Each  cell  or 
member  of  the  organism  exists  solely  for  the  sake 
of  the  whole,  in  which  summation  of  parts  alone 
is  to  be  found  true  personality.  The  citizen  ex- 
ists for  the  state.  In  the  organisation  the  con- 
trary principle  applies.  Each  part  or  factor 
finds  its  purpose  and  personality  inherent  in  it- 
self. It  enters  into  relations  with  its  fellows 
solely  for  mutual  aid  and  convenience.  The 
whole  exists  simply  to  minister  to  its  parts.  The 
state  exists  for  the  citizen.  If  the  socialist  state 
is  an  organism  rather  than  an  organisation  then 
we  must  consider  that  the  principle  of  individ- 
ualism would  suffer  eclipse  on  the  advent  of 
socialism.  But  if  on  the  contrary  its  nature  is 


14       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

that  of  the  organisation,  then  no  such  opposition 
is  entailed. 

Now  the  essential  nature  of  any  existing  or 
proposed  state  is  clearly  betrayed  as  either  or- 
ganism or  organisation  by  its  form  of  govern- 
ment. Since  the  organism  requires  that  all  sig- 
nificant individuality  be  reserved  for  the  whole, 
denying  it  to  the  parts,  we  shall  find  that  the 
governing  or  sovereign  power  is  exercised  as  a 
whole,  and  naturally  enough  that  this  may  be  the 
more  efficiently  done  we  find  it  delegated  to  spe- 
cialised parts  of  the  organism.  Such  is  the  brain 
or  other  higher  nervous  centres  in  animals,  and 
such  are  aristocracies  and  oligarchies  in  the  po- 
litical state.  In  these  states  as  in  all  creations 
of  the  nature  of  the  organism,  significant  indi- 
viduality is  denied  to  the  parts,  even  the  special- 
ised governing  nobility  itself  being  bound  to 
consider  the  good  of  the  whole  rather  than 
its  own,  according  to  the  code  of  noblesse 
oblige. 

On  the  other  hand  the  organisation  is  charac- 
terised by  true  democratic  government.  Each 
individual  member  is  as  a  personality  more  sig- 
nificant than  the  ensemble;  hence  he  requires 
that  his  will  as  a  significant  entity  be  taken  into 
consideration  in  the  conduct  of  the  whole.  This 
can  be  accomplished  only  through  democracy. 
And  where  the  individual  will  does  affect  the  con- 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  15 

duct  of  the  whole  in  due  measure,  there  only  is 
to  be  found  the  real  democracy. 

Now  while  socialism  proper  insists  upon  the 
democratic  principle  of  organisation  as  the  best 
known  device  for  thwarting  the  self-interest  of 
despotism,  and  thus  the  only  form  of  the  state 
that  does  not  unduly  entrench  upon  the  freedom 
of  the  individual,  there  is  a  spurious  socialism 
known  as  Bismarckian  or  state  socialism,  which 
does  not  observe  this  precaution.  This  form  of 
socialism  is  indeed  open  to  all  the  objections 
which  have  been  urged  against  socialism  by  the 
philosophical  individualists.  It  is  organised 
from  the  top  down  rather  than  from  the  bottom 
up.  It  is  marked  quite  as  well  by  the  absence 
of  democracy  as  is  socialism  proper  by  its  pres- 
ence. It  is  the  organism  in  the  sphere  of  the 
state.  We  may  remark  in  passing  that  the 
Marxian  socialist  has  ever  had  to  contend  against 
any  further  extension  of  the  organising  func- 
tion of  the  state  upon  this  basis  quite  as  strenu- 
ously as  against  that  complete  disruption  of  the 
organising  function  of  the  state  demanded  by  the 
anarchists. 

The  charge  that  socialism  is  opposed  to  indi- 
vidualism because  introducing  into  the  organisa- 
tion of  the  state  the  principle  of  the  organism 
is  thus  seen  to  be  unfounded  as  regards  socialism 
proper.  In  Prof.  Ely's  case,  however,  it  would 


16       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

seem  that  a  misapprehension  may  also  have 
arisen  from  the  unfortunate  implication  of  the 
terms  themselves.  Wihile  according  to  their  deri- 
vation as  philosophically  considered  the  terms 
socialism  and  individualism  stand  opposed,  it 
does  not  follow  that  as  used  by  the  sociologist 
they  are  thus  conflicting.  For  in  sociology  the 
term  socialism  is  not  to  be  understood  as  the 
negation  or  submergence  of  the  principle  of  indi- 
vidualism, but  simply  as  an  expression  for  the 
resultant  of  the  tendencies  of  the  many  discreet 
individualities  when  these  are  socially  united  in 
an  organisation.  And  since  this  product  or  sum- 
mation of  individual  tendencies  will  represent  an 
average  of  individual  tendencies  it  is  absurd  to 
suppose  that  the  resulting  society  could  ever  be 
completely  or  even  largely  opposed  to  any  of  its 
constituent  units. 

But  now  an  entirely  new  opposition  arises  from 
this  use  of  the  terms  in  their  sociological  sense, 
for  here  we  must  face  the  inevitable  query  as  to 
who  shall  be  supreme,  the  one  or  the  many  — 
the  individual  or  the  state.  The  socialist  unhes- 
itatingly replies, —  the  many.  But  we  must  not 
rashly  conclude  therefore  that  the  freedom  of 
the  individual  is  to  be  interfered  with  in  any 
new  or  unusual  manner  by  this  supremacy  of  the 
many,  for  in  reality  it  furnishes  but  another  in- 
stance of  the  all-conditioning  constraint  imposed 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  17 

by  the  laws  of  nature.  It  is  nature's  own  neces- 
sity that  individualities  shall  be  conditioned  by 
each  other,  unless  indeed  their  every  desire 
should  harmonise  with  those  of  all  others  and 
thus  conflict  between  them  fail  to  arise.  It  is 
however  inconceivable  that  opposing  desires 
should  be  long  lacking  or  that  these  opposing 
desires  should  fail  to  be  self -harmonising.  To  be 
sure  the  anarchist  does  affect  this  tour  de  force 
and  we  might  venture  to  agree  that  if  human  na- 
ture were  perfect  we  might  conceive  all  desires 
as  harmonious.  But  if  on  account  of  our  pres- 
ent imperfect  state  conflicting  desires  are  inevit- 
able, then  that  government  which  exists  solely 
for  the  sake  of  their  equitable  adjustment  is  add- 
ing no  further  restrictions  on  the  necessarily  lim- 
ited freedom  of  the  individual.  All  government 
is  thus  opposed  to  political  individualism :  exists 
in  fact  to  embody  the  consensus  of  opinion  con- 
cerning the  limitations  on  the  freedom  of  each 
necessitated  by  the  demand  for  a  similar  freedom 
on  the  part  of  others.  And  all  prohibitive  gov- 
ernment is  an  enormity  if  it  is  less  or  more  than 
a  mere  representation  of  the  natural  limitations 
arising  from  the  mutually  conflicting  desires  of 
its  subjects.  The  socialist  is  affirming  no  new 
or  unaccepted  principle  in  opposing  political  in- 
dividualism. 
Thus  the  socialist  society  as  conceived  by  its 


18       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

advocates  seeks  to  embody  only  those  restrictions 
on  the  freedom  of  the  individual  that  are  nat- 
urally inevitable.  It  simply  recognises  and  con- 
strues in  the  form  of  statutes  these  naturally 
imposed  restrictions.  Its  laws  but  reproduce  or 
represent  laws  of  nature  which  are  certain  to 
appear  in  the  form  of  tyranny  in  the  absence  of 
just  government.  Hence  the  socialist  state  like 
all  just  government  is  to  be  regarded  as  but  the 
instrumentality  through  which  is  to  be  effected 
the  equitable  adjustment  of  the  mutually  con- 
flicting claims  of  its  subjects,  clearly  not  as  an 
institution  presenting  claims  otherwise  non-ex- 
istent. And  as  it  thus  provides  a  government  as 
a  means  through  which  all  such  claims  may  work 
out  through  a  medium  especially  designed  for 
their  adjustment,  we  may  readily  believe  that 
more  freedom  results  than  where  such  clashing 
desires  are  allowed  to  reach  their  natural  con- 
clusion in  the  despotic  rule  of  the  strongest.  So- 
cialism is  thus  not  even  opposed  to  a  real  politi- 
cal individualism  so  far  as  it  can  be  achieved  in 
practice,  although  perhaps  opposed  to  the  merely 
postulated,  but  unrealisable,  unconditioned  in- 
dividualism of  the  political  anarchist.  And  all 
government  partakes  of  the  nature  of  socialism 
to  this  extent. 

We  may  note  that  it  is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  this  conception  of  unconditioned  individ- 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  19 

ualism  that  is  conjured  to  the  support  of  anarch- 
ism, that  negation  of  government  with  which  the 
highly  organised  government  of  socialism  is  so 
properly  contrasted.  Says  Lyman  Abbott  in 
Anarchism:  Its  Cause  and  Cure^ — "  Anarchy  is 
the  doctrine  that  there  should  be  no  govern- 
mental control;  Socialism  —  that  is,  State  So- 
cialism —  is  the  doctrine  that  government  should 
control  everything."  4  Of  course  this  contrast  is 
unfair  both  to  anarchy  and  to  socialism,  for  each 
is  presented  in  the  ridiculous  extreme.  But  for- 
tunately the  definition  of  the  term  anarchy  is  al- 
most universally  agreed  upon:  it  is  simply  the 
absence  of  governmental  organisation,  based 
upon  the  assumption  that  such  organisation  is 
unnecessary.  But  as  we  have  seen  unless  indi- 
vidual desires  do  in  fact  harmonise,  then  such 
organisation  is  indispensable.  It  must  be  re- 
tained to  establish  an  artificially  enforced  har- 
mony, at  least  pending  the  evolution  of  that  per- 
fection of  human  nature  which  will  permit  of  its 
abolition.  'We  may  state  then  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  non-anarchist  that  although  it  is 
doubtless  true  that  ultimately  only  those  natures 
that  do  harmonise  with  each  other  would  sur- 
vive, yet  evolution  has  still  far  to  proceed  before 
this  result  is  reached,  and  at  present  human  na- 
ture is  far  from  that  state  of  perfection  in  which 
*  Outlook,  February,  1902,  p.  465. 


20       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

any  form  of  organisation  —  or  none  at  all  — 
would  be  equally  consistent  with  human  welfare. 
In  case  the  individual  were  perfect  the  socialist 
would  not  concern  himself  about  the  form  or 
functions  of  social  organisation,  as  he  does  so 
supremely  at  present.  His  claim  is  indeed  that 
the  utmost  resources  of  the  political  scientist 
should  be  called  into  requisition  in  the  attempt 
to  construct  that  institutional  society  which  will 
best  answer  the  purposes  of  imperfect  humanity. 
Human  nature  must  be  taken  as  it  is,  its  strength 
accurately  and  scientifically  tested ;  and  without 
grumbling  unduly  at  the  weakness  of  the  material 
at  his  command,  the  social  architect  must  pro- 
ceed to  plan  a  stable  and  good  society. 

It  is  because  he  perceives  clearly  the  weakness 
and  unreliability  in  the  characters  of  those  who 
must  be  entrusted  in  a  measure  with  the  welfare 
of  others  that  the  socialist  insists  on  what  he  re- 
gards as  the  most  essential  requisite  in  the  struc- 
ture of  government,  namely  a  complete  adher- 
ence to  the  principle  of  democracy  throughout 
this  necessary  organisation.  For  while  an  aris- 
tocracy can  and  probably  usually  does  govern 
better  than  a  democracy,  its  unfailing  tendency 
is  to  revert  to  despotism.  Similarly  in  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government,  in  proportion  as  the 
character  of  the  average  representative  law 
maker  is  not  sufficiently  reliable  to  defend  the 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  21 

interests  of  his  constituency,  the  necessity  arises 
for  the  use  of  the  recall  and  the  initiative  and 
referendum.  And  while  it  may  be  admitted  that 
direct  legislation  is  an  awkward  form  of  law 
making,  it  may  well  be  the  best  attainable  in  view 
of  the  corrupting  influences  on  the  representa- 
tive law  making  body.  From  the  foregoing  con- 
siderations the  socialist  concludes  that  not  only 
is  organised  government  necessary  despite  the 
contentions  of  the  anarchist,  but  that  in  view  of 
the  non-altruistic  character  of  those  who  are  to 
formulate  its  laws  and  administer  its  decrees  it 
must  be  thoroughly  democratic. 

But  even  democratic  organisation  is  not  suf- 
ficient unless  it  is  measurably  complete.  As  op- 
posed to  anarchy  socialism  is  complete  organisa- 
tion. Now  it  is  obvious  that  competition  can 
find  place  only  in  the  absence  of  complete  organi- 
sation, and  that  cooperation,  the  antithesis  of 
competition,  is  the  signal  characteristic  of  com- 
plete organisation.  Hence  a  direct  consequence 
of  the  organising  propensity  of  socialism  is  its 
antipathy  to  competition.  Says  Skelton  in  So- 
cialism, A  Critical  Analysis, — "  In  each  of  these 
aspects  —  indictment,  analysis,  panacea,  cam- 
paign —  socialism  is  intelligible  only  as  the  an- 
tithesis of  the  competitive  system."  5 

Let  it  be  noted,  however,  that  the  government 

»P.  9. 


22       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

of  the  socialist  state,  although  thus  completely 
organised,  would  be  wholly  negative  as  govern- 
ment proper.  The  individual  would  not  be  posi- 
tively coerced,  but  only  restrained  from  coercing 
others.  The  socialist  state  would  neither  exploit 
its  citizens  itself  nor  permit  individuals  to  do  so. 
The  individual  would  be  left  free  in  all  respects 
to  choose  among  the  numerous  alternatives  which 
would  be  provided  by  the  socialist  democratic 
state.  That  there  would  be  provided  a  great  va- 
riety of  such  alternatives  would  follow  from  the 
fact  that  these  alternatives  would  be  established 
and  made  available  by  those  who  would  be  most 
interested  in  seeing  that  such  opportunities  were 
supplied,  for  these  under  the  democratic  socialist 
state  would  possess  full  power  to  adopt  all  de- 
sirable measures  of  industrial  and  social  reform. 
Under  democracy  it  is  impossible  to  enslave  so- 
ciety as  a  whole. 

Furthermore  the  organisation  of  the  socialist 
state,  while  conditioning  the  acts  and  privileges 
of  its  members,  is  not  necessarily  felt  by  them 
as  a  restrictive  agency.  As  the  other  laws  of 
nature  are  seen  to  be  necessary  laws  of  our  being, 
and  subjectively  asserted,  so  the  laws  of  man  be- 
come superfluous  to  the  normal  man.  The  nor- 
mal parent  does  not  find  the  compulsory  educa- 
tion law  a  restriction,  nor  does  the  normal  son 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  23 

feel  constrained  by  the  law  compelling  the  sup- 
port of  aged  parents.  The  law.  is  fulfilled 
through  voluntary  obedience ;  hence  although  we 
may  agree  with  Lyman  Abbott  that  socialism  is 
the  complete  opposite  of  anarchy,  we  can  never- 
theless maintain  that  the  socialist  is  able  to  agree 
with  the  philosophical  anarchist  who  finds  that 
the  organisation  will  be  ultimately  superfluous 
through  fulfilment. 

There  is  a  form  of  individualism  yet  to  be  con- 
sidered which  is  held  to  oppose  the  socialist  con- 
ception even  more  stubbornly  than  those  already 
considered,  namely,  that  of  the  ethical  individ- 
ualist. An  examination  of  socialism  from  the 
standpoint  of  ethical  individualism  seems  espe- 
cially necessary  inasmuch  as  socialism  is  so  vig- 
orously attacked  in  the  name  of  Christianity,  not- 
withstanding the  oft  repeated  declaration  that 
"  the  ethics  of  socialism  are  identical  with  those 
of  Christianity."  6 

In  the  first  place  we  must  all  agree  that  the 
Christian  life  is  impossible  in  society  as  at  pres- 
ent constituted.  The  unreserved  practice  of 
Christian  virtues  can  lead  only  to  non-survival. 
The  Christian  ideals  of  the  pure  altruism  of  serv- 
ice have  been  consistently  ignored  in  practice 

*  Cyclopcedia  of  Social  Reform,  Bliss.  Article  on  Chris- 
tianity and  Social  Reform. 


24       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

and  the  competitive  struggle  sanctioned  by  the 
materialistic  evolutionists  has  been  everywhere 
substituted. 

The  logic  of  events  thus  proves  that  individual 
ethics  cannot  be  divorced  from  social  morals.  In 
addition  to  those  acts  and  choices  for  which  the 
individual  can  justly  be  held  responsible  are 
others  within  the  control  of  society  alone.  For 
these  it  is  proper  that  society  rather  than  the  in- 
dividual be  held  responsible.  And  the  fact  that 
this  responsibility  is  not  that  of  a  vague  some- 
thing called  society  but  that  of  the  individuals 
who  together  compose  society,  does  not  imply 
that  it  is  on  a  par  with  purely  individual  respon- 
sibility. Social  responsibility  is  incommensur- 
able in  terms  of  individual  responsibilities. 
While  the  individual  is  totally  responsible  for  his 
own  private  acts,  he  is  only  partially  responsi- 
ble for  the  commonly  acquiesced  in  acts  of  so- 
ciety as  a  body. 

It  has  indeed  been  asserted,  notably  by  Pro- 
fessor Peabody  in  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social 
Question,  that  Christ  taught  only  individual  re- 
sponsibility. Thus  the  professed  followers  of 
one  whose  chief  teaching  was  the  brotherhood  of 
man  protest  in  the  name  of  their  leader  against 
the  recognition  of  the  principle  of  social  responsi- 
bility. They  seem  to  believe  with  Tolstoy  that 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  can  be  established  on 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  25 

earth  only  by  repudiating  the  ordinarily  accepted 
laws  of  political  science.  But  they  denounce  the 
socialists  as  visionaries  who  do  not  recognise  the 
imperfections  of  human  nature.  Nor  do  they  at- 
tempt to  show  how  individual  excellence  is  to  be 
made  manifest  in  works. 

The  socialist  objects  that  virtuous  humanity 
must  obviously  be  working  under  a  great  disad- 
vantage if  it  must  proceed  through  individual 
effort  to  achieve  an  unorganised  regeneration  of 
society ;  while,  as  we  may  rest  assured,  the  forces 
of  evil  will  not  advance  singly  but  in  well  ordered 
array.  Moreover,  while  a  certain  type  of  Chris- 
tian is  concentrating  attention  upon  the  affairs 
of  another  world,  the  wicked  are  prospering  by 
strict  application  to  "  business  "  here  and  now. 

All  this  follows  from  that  form  of  other- world- 
liness  which,  while  attributing  total  responsi- 
bility to  each  person  in  his  individual  capacity 
for  all  his  acts,  relegates  to  another  world  the 
practical  recognition  of  his  deserts.  The  social- 
ist is  opposed  to  ethical  individualism  only  in 
so  far  as  it  illogical ly  imposes  responsibility 
without  granting  authority,  and  in  so  far  as  it 
dishonestly  withholds  reward  when  due.  And  it 
is  opposed  to  individualism  in  general  only  when 
the  latter  would  altogether  deny  that  there  is 
any  field  whatever  for  the  application  of  the 
principle  of  socialism. 


26       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

If  we  turn  now  from  these  attempts  to  define 
socialism  in  terms  of  its  contrast  with  the  various 
forms  of  individualism  we  shall  find  that  it  is 
even  more  difficult  to  frame  a  hard  and  fast  defi- 
nition in  positive  terms.  All  those  positively 
expressed  definitions  which  we  are  able  to  find 
in  the  writings  of  the  best  expounders  of  social- 
ism are  marked  by  a  very  obvious  inadequacy. 
They  patently  leave  something  to  be  inferred. 
They  ignore  phases  generally  recognised  as  be- 
longing to  the  movement.  There  is,  indeed, 
much  implied  in  socialism  of  which  many  of  its 
most  ardent  and  enthusiastic  supporters  seem 
unaware,  though  they  undoubtedly  feel  the  emo- 
tional fervour  inspired  by  the  unperceived  mo- 
tives. 

It  is  no  occasion  for  wonder  that  such  should 
be  the  case,  for  it  is  almost  unfailingly  true  that 
those  engaged  in  the  midst  of  great  reconstructive 
movements  have  been  more  or  less  blind  to  the 
real  nature  and  significance  of  the  forces  that 
were  in  large  part  influential  in  determining 
their  action.  Socialism  more  than  most  move- 
ments is  self-conscious,  but  it  is  far  from  being 
completely  so.  We  shall  find  that  the  current 
definitions  most  acceptable  to  socialists  generally 
show  recognition  of  only  a  part  of  the  movement. 
Thus  we  may  read  a  series  of  quotations  in  the 
introduction  to  The  Handbook  of  Socialism  by 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  27 

W.  D.  P.  Bliss,  where  six  pages  of  definitions  by 
representative  socialists  of  all  sorts,  Utopian  and 
scientific,  agree  that  socialism  is  primarily  an 
economic  movement,  concluding  with  his  own 
definition, — "  Socialism  is  the  fixed  principle, 
capable  of  infinite  and  changing  variety  of  form 
and  only  gradually  to  be  applied,  according  to 
which  the  community  should  own  land  and  cap- 
ital collectively  and  operate  them  co-operatively 
for  the  equitable  good  of  all."  7  This  obviously 
leaves  much  that  is  of  determining  value  untold, 
for  we  are  unable  to  imagine  with  definiteness 
that  state  of  society  where  the  control  is  vested 
in  a  governing  body  indefinitely  referred  to  as 
the  "community,"  which  in  turn  is  informed 
with  no  guiding  principle  beyond  the  indefinite 
and  general  "  equitable  good  of  all."  And  when 
we  attempt  to  formulate  this  guiding  principle 
for  ourselves  we  are  obliged  to  admit  that  we  are 
unable  to  find  any  ready  made  determination 
of  the  ideal  good,  but  only  a  line  of  development1 
to  be  progressively  worked  out.  No  descriptive 
definition  of  socialism  can  probably  be  framed 
which  will  be  inclusive  of  its  multifarious  as- 
pects or  even  true  to  its  inner  meaning.  Hence 
we  are  forced  to  abandon  any  attempt  to  define 
socialism  by  its  results,  probable  or  predictable, 
and  to  content  ourselves  with  an  examination 
7  p.  u 


28       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

of  its  grounds  or  causes  in  the  general  social 
situation  and  of  its  professed  and  implied  pur- 
poses. 

We  must  undertake  to  define  it  as  a  form  of 
social  organisation  rather  than  as  a  worked  out 
scheme  of  social  institutions.  Modern  scientific 
socialism  condemns  all  attempt  at  definition  in 
terms  of  results  as  Utopian.  Says  Miss  Hughan 
,in  American  Socialism  of  the  Present  Day, — 
"  The  distinction  between  Utopian  and  scientific 
socialism  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  former  sub- 
mitted to  the  choice  of  mankind  a  plan  founded 
upon  ethics  and  expediency,  while  the  latter 
presents  an  analysis  of  economic  forces  with  a 
prognostication  as  to  their  more  or  less  inevi- 
table tendencies.  The  strictly  economic  inter- 
pretation of  history  precludes  the  determination 
of  the  details  of  a  society  until  the  material  con- 
ditions which  are  to  produce  that  society  have 
arrived."  8 

The  socialists  themselves  meet  the  demand  for 
a  positive  definition  by  a  declaration  of  the  pur- 
poses of  socialism,  i.  e.,  of  their  own  purposes. 
While  we  may  consider  these  with  profit  we  shall 
be  obliged  to  ask  continually  if  they  are  typical 
and  to  what  extent  they  may  be  expected  to 
prevail  in  a  socialistically  organised  commu- 
nity. 

»p.  120. 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  29 

Foremost  among  these  declared  purposes  is  the 
declaration  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of 
economic  justice.  Socialism  is  generally  known 
as  an  economic  doctrine  and  programme. 
Volumes  have  been  written  describing  and  ex- 
plaining its  economic  foundations.  Its  plat- 
forms usually  declare  it  to  be  a  strictly  economic 
movement  with  no  purpose  beyond  the  political 
expression  of  the  contentions  of  the  labour  unions 
and  no  aim  beyond  the  material  improvement  of 
the  proletariat.  This  obsession  with  the  mate- 
rial is  due  to  the  short  range  of  vision  of  the 
common  man  rather  than  to  any  paucity  of 
spiritual  implications  in  the  movement  itself. 
We  may  note  that  many  of  those  in  the  move- 
ment are  not  particularly  of  a  reflective  or  an- 
alytical cast  of  mind,  hence  all  that  comes  to 
consciousness  in  their  minds  is  the  economic  con- 
tent of  the  movement.  They  are  engaged  strictly 
in  forwarding  a  reorganisation  of  society  with 
the  sole  aim  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 
working  class.  That  this  would  incidentally 
supply  the  material  foundation  for  an  entirely 
new  social  structure  ought  to  be  seen  to  follow 
plainly  enough  from  the  doctrine  of  economic 
determinism  to  which  they  are  so  largely  com- 
mitted. And  that  some  of  these  consequences 
might  surpass  in  importance  the  effects  directly 
sought  seems  scarcely  to  have  occurred  to  many 


30       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

of  the  most  enthusiastic  workers  in  the  move- 
ment. 

While  we  may  consider  then  that  the  main 
concern  of  socialism,  particularly  as  conceived 
by  most  of  its  advocates,  is  in  economic  affairs, 
we  must  take  note  also  that  it  implies  reforms 
quite  remote  from  any  purely  material  well  be- 
ing. Bax  well  says, — "  The  attempt  to  limit  the 
term  socialism  within  the  four  walls  of  an  eco- 
nomic definition  is  in  the  long  run  futile."  9 

But  although  socialism  may  not  be  confined 
to  the  economic  field,  it  at  least  takes  its  start 
there.  If  we  say  with  C.  H.  Vale  that  socialism 
is  "  industrial  democracy,"  10  we  shall  properly 
emphasise  the  economic  standpoint  of  the  move- 
ment and  further  signify  by  the  use  of  the  term 
democracy  that  the  future  direction  that  it  will 
take  will  rest  upon  the  character  of  the  people 
composing  the  collective  commonwealth.  We 
cannot  perhaps  predict  far  into  the  results  of 
an  industrial  democracy  such  as  this,  but  we 
can  at  least  make  an  analysis  of  the  powers  con- 
ferred and  deduce  some  of  the  probable  result- 
ants from  the  conjunction  of  these  with  the 
known  characteristics  of  human  nature. 

We  must  understand  socialism  then,  not  by 
its  predicted  final  results  nor  even  entirely  by 

»  Outlooks  from  the  New  Standpoint,  p.  21. 
10  Principles  of  Scientific  Socialism. 


VARIOUS  DEFINITIONS  CONSIDERED  31 

its  professed  purposes,  but  by  an  analysis  of  its 
grounds  and  causes,  noting  the  various  forces 
spiritual  and  material  that  tend  to  produce  it 
and  their  probable  outcome.  Then  we  may  con- 
sider the  significance  of  the  movement  as  related 
causally  to  the  past,  noting  its  tendencies  as  to 
means  and  methods  and  trying  to  discover  so  far 
as  possible  its  aims  and  the  probabilities  of  their 
realisation. 


CHAPTER  III 

\ 

SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM 

WE  are  now  prepared  after  this  preliminary 
discussion  of  the  necessary  limitations  of  our  at- 
tempt, in  a  general  way  at  least,  to  classify  this 
modern  manifestation  of  popular  uprising. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  science  of  sociology 
it  is  not  an  isolated  phenomenon.  Nor  is  it 
a  mere  passing  phase  of  restive  discontent.  It 
is  part  and  parcel  of  the  movement  for  popular 
liberty  that  has  during  the  past  century  laid 
so  profound  hold  upon  all  civilised  mankind. 
This  fact  of  tremendous  import  will  become  more 
apparent  as  we  proceed  in  our  discussion.  Mean- 
while we  should  note  that  if  there  is  any  rec- 
ognisable sociological  cause  for  this  movement 
for  popular  liberty,  then  the  same  cause  may 
be  expected  to  reach  its  further  fruition  in  the 
further  development  of  socialism. 

In  considering  the  rise  of  this  movement  we 
find,  as  we  should  expect,  that  oppression  must 
first  be  felt  and  recognised  before  any  effort  will 
be  made  to  escape  from  it.  And  it  is  of  course 
direct  oppression  that  is  thus  first  recognised  and 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM         33 

thrown  off  by  the  partially  aroused  people.  This 
took  place  when  the  despot  was  dethroned,  and 
autocracy  as  a  principle  of  government  was  dis- 
placed by  political  democracy.  But  this  reform 
was  incomplete  in  that  it  sought  to  benefit  only 
a  portion  of  humanity,  for  some  classes  such  as 
slaves  still  remained  in  direct  bondage,  and 
others,  including  women,  were  allowed  no  direct 
voice  in  the  government.  Moreover  even  if  com- 
pleted this  overthrow  of  direct  tyranny  leaves 
untouched  a  multitude  of  indirect  forms  and 
instances  of  oppression.  It  remains  that  indus- 
trial and  social  as  well  as  political  despotism 
be  overthrown  before  a  real  freedom  can  be  en- 
joyed. The  real  meaning  of  socialism  is  to  be 
sought  in  an  analysis  of  the  forces  tending  to 
accomplish  this  overthrow,  and  a  formulation  of 
the  means  and  methods  that  will  guarantee  the 
permanent  establishment  of  ideal  social  rela- 
tions. 

Since  therefore  socialism  has  an  origin  in  the 
general  movement  toward  democracy,  we  may 
expect  that  the  same  forces  that  are  responsible 
for  the  rise  of  democracy  will  control  its  further 
development.  Hence  it  is  our  next  task  to  ex- 
amine the  forces  underlying  the  rise  of  democ- 
racy in  each  department  of  human  relations. 

Now  it  is  obvious  that  there  is  to  be  expected, 
and  in  fact  always  has  been,  a  restive  seeking 


34       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

to  alter  conditions  on  the  part  of  those  who 
feel  their  own  status  in  the  social  system  to  be 
relatively  unsatisfactory.  In  early  times  while 
the  caste  system  remained  practically  in  effect 
this  took  the  form  of  peasants'  rebellions  or 
artisans'  revolts.  Later  we  find  desperate  ef- 
forts on  the  part  of  individuals  and  families  to 
raise  themselves  from  "  that  state  in  which  Prov- 
idence had  caused  their  lot  to  be  cast."  Prefer- 
ment was  sought  through  military  service, 
through  the  arts  of  the  courtier,  through  mar- 
riage alliances,  and  even  through  the  church. 
Finally  the  idea  of  status  was  definitely  aban- 
doned as  a  principle  of  social  structure  and  that 
of  contract  substituted.  But  this  demanded  a 
quite  different  set  of  social  institutions  and  a 
quite  different  attitude  toward  social  questions. 
The  jury  system  which  had  hitherto  been  re- 
stricted to  criminal  actions  became  now  gener- 
ally extended  to  cover  civil  cases.  The  method 
of  settling  social  action  by  voting  which  had  hith- 
erto received  but  limited  recognition  began  to 
gain  sway  in  all  the  most  highly  civilised  com- 
munities. Bodies  of  representatives  of  "the 
commons  "  began  to  advise  and  then  to  command 
the  autocratic  ruler.  Thus  democracy  an- 
nounced its  arrival  as  superseding  nature  gov- 
ernment, or  tyranny. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  desires  of  the  rank  and 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM         35 

file,  who  under  democracy  are  the  ultimate 
sovereign  power,  will  be  generally  different  from 
those  of  the  staff,  whose  function  it  is  to  direct, 
either  through  recognised  position  of  authority 
as  in  the  past,  or  as  at  present  through  ownership 
of  the  necessary  means  of  production.  And  if 
we  proceed  to  note  these  differences  one  by  one 
we  shall  be  immediately  struck  by  the  fact  that 
this  democratic  society  will  first  of  all  desire  that 
industrial  competition  shall  cease. 

As  in  wrar  it  is  chiefly  the  privates  in  the  ranks 
who  pay  the  penalty  of  the  struggle,  so  in  in- 
dustrial competition  it  is  the  workers  for  wages 
who  must  bear  the  burden  of  the  conflict.  The 
struggle  that  to  the  employer  is  merely  a  contest 
to  decide  who  shall  secure  commercial  supremacy 
is  to  the  employee  a  matter  of  securing  a  liveli- 
hood. Looking  at  the  matter  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  more  numerous  class,  who  under 
democracy  would  obtain  their  desires,  it  is  small 
wonder  that  they  should  desire  a  cessation  of  the 
conflict.  It  is  properly  a  matter  concerning 
solely  the  competing  capitalists,  a  conflict  in 
which  they  themselves  are  not  directly  interested. 
But  they  must  enter  nolens  volens  as  employees 
of  one  or  the  other  party  to  the  contest.  And 
whichever  of  the  competing  capitalists  should 
prove  victorious  they  are  certain  of  loss  through 
the  inevitable  lowering  of  wages  necessitated  by 


36       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  attempt  of  each  employer  to  underbid  the 
other  in  the  cost  of  production. 

They  themselves  are  unable  to  enter  the 
tourney,  disqualified  by  lack  of  the  necessary 
evidence  of  rank  as  implied  in  the  possession  of 
land  and  capital.  The  whole  struggle  is  indeed 
a  tragic  one  to  the  worker.  He  rightly  distrusts 
the  generals  or  "  captains  of  industry "  under 
whom  he  lines  up, —  their  honour  and  their  dis- 
position to  sacrifice  him  —  for  he  is  aware  that 
often  they  make  terms  between  themselves  and 
join  in  common  cause  against  him.  The  heart- 
lessness  of  business  being  thus  shown  in  the 
brutalised  disregard  for  those  who  are  chiefly 
affected,  we  cannot  wonder  that  the  wage  earner 
intends  to  do  away  with  industrial  warfare  as 
soon  as  he  has  the  power. 

Moreover  just  as  the  gradual  cessation  of 
actual  warfare  betokens  not  only  an  improve- 
ment in  the  methods  of  settling  disputes  but  quite 
as  much  a  decline  in  martial  spirit,  so  is  the 
mitigation  of  competition  among  labourers  not 
only  a  result  of  the  solidarity  of  labour  but  even 
more  a  result  of  the  weakening  of  the  spirit  of 
industrial  ambition:  this  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  the  strenuous  element  among  our  pop- 
ulation to  keep  it  alive.  Lack  of  the  determina- 
tion to  wrest  power  and  position  from  associates 
is  denounced  in  certain  quarters  as  scathingly 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        37 

as  was  formerly  the  lack  of  reckless  bravery  and 
ferocity  in  battle.  This  lack  of  competitive 
spirit  is  based  mainly  upon  the  gradual  but  gen- 
eral growth  of  altruism.  Indeed  the  solidarity 
of  labour  itself  is  based  quite  as  much  upon  the 
growth  of  this  sentiment  as  upon  economic  neces- 
sity. 

But  a  deeper  underlying  source  of  dissatisfac- 
tion with  our  imperfect  and  incomplete  social 
organisation  is  the  finally  awakening  spirit  of 
social  selfconsciousness.  This  rather  than  any 
mere  mechanical  working  out  of  historic  pro- 
cesses is  responsible  for  the  passion  for  democ- 
racy whose  sources  we  are  seeking.  It  is  not  a 
Renaissance  this  time  but  a  social  awakening 
quite  as  profound  and  even  more  momentous  on 
account  of  its  greater  scope,  a  spirit  of  modern 
times  yet  to  be  clearly  recognised  and  named,  but 
whose  most  tangible  manifestation  as  we  have 
seen  is  the  enthusiasm  for  democracy, —  a  recon- 
struction of  society  according  to  the  demands  of 
the  newly  developing  science  of  sociology. 

This  movement  may  be  regarded  as  in  some 
sense  a  reaction  from  the  naturalism  of  the  im- 
mediate followers  of  Darwin,  for  it  aims  to  im- 
prove the  order  in  which  "  natural  selection  "  is 
supreme.  It  seeks  to  erect  the  superstructure 
of  man's  purposive  creation  upon  the  basic  un- 
purposive  natural  order,  which  seems  to  ignore 


38       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  harmonies  demanded  by  man.  This  is  not 
unnatural  in  the  truest  sense.  Man's  conscious 
mentality  has  passed  through  a  similar  succes- 
sion of  evolutionary  stages.  The  representative 
faculties  have  emerged  to  forestall  the  necessity 
of  actual  trial  of  each  possibility  of  action. 
Thinking  man,  who  exemplifies  nature  at  her 
highest,  plans  and  reasons  before  acting,  instead 
of  following  lower  nature  in  her  necessity  of 
making  many  inharmonious  combinations  to 
ascertain  which  forms  are  actually  compatible. 

This  reasoning  faculty  is  first  applied  to  the 
more  -objective  realms.  Man  reasons  regarding 
the  use  to  be  made  of  his  natural  surroundings 
and  his  tools,  much  later  about  his  relations  with 
other  men,  and  later  still  about  his  own  moods 
and  frames  of  mind.  Latest  of  all  is  his  objective 
scientific  method  applied  to  the  conduct  of 
society  as  a  whole.  But  this  application  when 
finally  made  is  of  the  highest  importance.  It 
is  this  application  which  is  now  demanding 
attention,  for  it  becomes  manifest  as  the  prin- 
ciple of  socialism.  It  is  this  consistent  scien- 
tific application  of  sociology  that  is  the  unob- 
trusive but  actual  force  behind  the  various 
surface  manifestations  of  the  socialist  movement. 

Ethics  as  a  science  treating  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  individual  as  determined  by  his 
social  relations  has  long  been  a  consistent  guide 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        39 

to  the  individual  conscience:  now  social  ethics 
treating  of  the  responsibilities  of  society  for  and 
to  the  individual  is  called  into  play  under  the 
guise  of  the  so  called  religious  aspect  of  socialism. 
Thus  the  final  application  of  science,  that  to  man 
as  the  ultimate  end  of  all  human  endeavour  and 
regard,  is  in  sight. 

With  this  preliminary  examination  of  social- 
istic definitions  and  tendencies  we  may  proceed 
to  formulate  a  provisional  definition,  bearing  in 
mind  all  the  while  that  such  a  definition  must 
be  expressed  in  terms  of  principles  and  causes 
rather  than  in  terms  of  plans  and  results,  for 
these  are  as  yet  indeterminate.  It  is  to  be  re- 
garded then  as  the  direct  fruition  of  social  self- 
consciousness,  a  necessary  and  inevitable  con- 
sequence of  increased  clearness  of  social  vision, 
presenting  a  consummation  unavoidably  to  be 
reached  if  the  progress  of  civilisation  be  not 
arrested  or  turned  backward.  We  have  seen  how; 
political  democracy  was  the  first  step  in  the  ac- 
tivity of  society  which  had  reached  its  majority. 
By  this  real  government  as  distinguished  from 
autocratic  tyranny  has  been  established  at  least 
in  form.  That  this  coming  of  age  of  society 
should  be  accompanied  by  the  demand  for  self 
government  is  entirely  consistent.  And  we  now 
find  that  so  little  daunted  is  the  newly  en- 
franchised citizenry  by  this  responsibility  that 


40       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

a  further  demand  is  rapidly  becoming  articulate 
—  that  for  complete  power  to  bring  the  further 
evolution  of  human  society  under  human  direc- 
tion. With  these  facts  in  mind  we  may  hazard 
the  approximation  that  socialism  is  the  social 
system  which  seeks  by  means  of  the  social  con- 
trol of  heredity  and  environment  to  direct  the 
further  progress  of  civilisation  in  accordance 
with  the  ideals  arising  through  social  self  con- 
sciousness. 

This  control  of  the  factors  of  further  progress 
must  proceed  through  the  appeal  of  ideas  to  the 
people  democratically  organised  if  it  is  to  be  truly 
social  in  character.  And  while  we  may  not  pre- 
dict the  exact  form  or  scope  of  the  resulting 
institutions,  we  are  at  liberty  to  infer  certain  of 
their  characteristics  from  the  known  tendencies 
of  democratic  communities. 

No  longer  is  the  control  of  any  phase  of  social 
development  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  individ- 
uals provided  the  idea  of  its  control  by  society 
is  an  idea  that  appeals  to  the  people.  Thus 
under  democratic  organisation  there  is  placed 
within  the  reach  of  the  lower  half  of  society  the 
power  to  alter  civilisation  according  to  their  own 
needs.  Such  an  arrangement  cannot  fail  to  have 
the  most  momentous  consequences.  For  this 
rule  by  the  lower  half  of  society,  or  to  speak 
more  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  fact,  accord- 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        41 

ing  to  the  decisions  of  the  lower  half,  will  differ 
in  several  important  respects  from  that  rule 
that  has  prevailed  hitherto.  And  several  char- 
acteristics may  be  predicted  of  it  with  safety  if 
we  are  to  assume  that  it  shall  become  really  ef- 
fective. 

First,  the  lower  half  being  in  control  of  the 
situation,  they  will  be  held  in  respect  as  never 
before.  Their  views  will  become  for  the  first 
time  of  real  and  supreme  importance.  They  will 
be  in  no  sense  negligible  factors  as  ever  hereto- 
fore, for  no  important  step  can  be  taken  without 
their  consent.  Eule  must  be  exercised  if  not  by 
them  at  least  through  them.  Hence  their  mental 
and  moral  state  becomes  for  the  first  time  matter 
of  supreme  selfish  concern  to  those  who  are  more 
favoured.  Inasmuch  as  their  material  condition 
reflects  on  their  mental  and  moral  capacity  and 
welfare,  this  also  will  become  for  the  first  time  a 
matter  of  intimate  personal  concern  to  their 
superiors.  The  whole  people  must  progress  as 
one.  No  longer  may  the  few  distance  the  many 
or  perhaps  even  progress  at  their  expense. 
Society  becomes  builded  upon  the  principle  of 
the  cantilever  bridge,  in  which  each  part  is  sup- 
ported by  the  part  immediately  below  it;  rather 
than  upon  the  principle  of  the  suspension  bridge, 
in  which  each  part  is  supported  by  the  part  im- 
mediately above  it.  It  consequently  becomes  a 


42       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

matter  of  more  concern  what  is  below  than  what 
is  above.  That  this  attitude,  necessitated  on  the 
part  of  society,  will  fail  to  be  extremely  interest- 
ing in  its  consequences  for  the  lower  half  is  in- 
conceivable. We  do  not  depend  upon  altruism 
to  support  the  socialist  commonwealth.  Com- 
munity of  interest  will  suffice  to  accomplish  all 
that  could  for  a  moment  be  expected  of  altruism, 
and  more.  Self-interest  will  prompt  the  most 
earnest  and  sincere  endeavours  on  the  part  of 
the  favoured  to  uplift  their  less  fortunate  com- 
rades. 

Thus  the  socialist  movement  tends  to  unify 
society.  Since  the  welfare  of  each  is  bound  up 
with  the  welfare  of  all,  it  tends  to  make  all  men 
brothers.  A  unified  society  progressing  in  this 
way  must  in  course  advance  further  and  in  the 
long  run  faster  than  a  partial  group,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  contrast  afforded  by  our  modern 
civilisation  when  compared  with  that  of  the 
Greeks.  Inasmuch  then  as  the  whole  people  or  a 
majority  of  them  must  be  interested  before  any 
movement  for  the  common  welfare  can  become 
effective,  the  resulting  society  presents  a  new 
aspect  significant  as  the  effect  of  an  integrating 
tendency  which  we  find  most  properly  expressed 
in  the  fortunate  name  of  socialism.  Under 
socialism  then  society  must  progress  as  a  whole 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        43 

and  the  word  "  solidarity,"  now  the  slogan  of  the 
workers,  becomes  the  motto  of  society. 

Society  thus  becomes  responsible  as  a  whole 
for  all  matters  of  social  concern.  This  is  quite 
a  different  matter  from  the  "  social  responsibil- 
ity "  often  spoken  of  at  the  present  time.  The 
latter  usually  and  naturally  refers  to  the  respon- 
sibilities of  the  individual  members  of  the 
privileged  classes  to  look  out  for  the  interests 
of  the  social  group  to  which  they  feel  themselves 
to  belong, —  in  the  best  and  broadest  sense  of 
course,  for  all  the  people.  But  this  "  social  re- 
sponsibility "  is  felt  to  be  essentially  individual 
responsibility  in  practice.  The  individual  will 
be  punished  by  conscience  in  this  world  and  re- 
tribution in  the  next  for  neglecting  it,  but  it  does 
not  come  within  the  interdiction  of  the  civil  law. 
It  has  a  basis  in  altruism  alone  and  may  be 
expected  to  manifest  itself  in  proportion  as  that 
sentiment  is  developed.  The  socialist  while  not 
denying  the  assistance  of  this  motive,  would  not 
attempt  to  base  the  solid  structure  of  the  com- 
monwealth on  any  such  insubstantial  and  un- 
stable foundation.  Social  responsibility  is  for 
him  the  responsibility  of  the  individual  not  for 
but  to  society,  and  the  consequent  responsibility 
of  society  for  the  individual. 

It  has  been  objected  that  the  exercise  of  this 


44       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

responsibility  by  society  will  lessen  the  in- 
dividual's responsibility  for  himself.  Now  in 
justice  we  may  be  glad  if  this  is  so,  in  case  it 
does  not  relieve  the  individual  of  responsibility 
commensurate  with  his  command  over  his  des- 
tinies. But  the  individual  cannot  in  a  civilised 
community  possibly  exercise  control  over  all  the 
forces  bearing  on  his  welfare.  How  then  can  he 
justly  be  held  responsible  for  the  outcome  of  these 
forces  on  himself?  Civilisation  itself  is  an  at- 
tempt to  put  responsibility  where  it  belongs,  on 
man  rather  than  upon  nature,  who  seems  to  re- 
pudiate the  imposition.  For  man  singly  and 
alone  can  control  nature  only  to  very  limited 
extent,  while  man  collectively  can  impose  a  far 
larger  measure  of  control.  According  to  these 
respective  powers  is  apportioned  the  appropriate 
measure  of  responsibility. 

The  individual  is  in  nowise  relieved  from  re- 
sponsibility for  his  own  welfare  where  he  can 
by  any  means  be  supposed  to  possess  the  cor- 
responding authority  over  his  lot.  Indeed  he 
can  be  more  properly  held  for  that  which  he  can 
control  when  relieved  of  that  which  he  cannot. 
Hence  charity  and  state  aid  assume  an  entirely 
new  aspect  under  socialism.  Except  as  strictly 
humanitarian  measures,  such  as  old  age  pensions, 
charity  is  entirely  out  of  place  in  the  socialist 
society,  however  greatly  it  may  be  needed  to 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OP  SOCIALISM        45 

make  up  the  deficiencies  in  justice  in  the  pres- 
ent. 

Another  inference  from  the  really  democratic 
government  of  socialism  is  the  fact  that  the 
tendency  of  the  exceptional  individuals  to  detach 
themselves  from  the  general  mass  would  be 
checked.  The  desire  to  obtain  for  themselves  and 
their  families  permanent  hereditary  advantages 
would  be  unavailing.  Thus  the  limiting  of  fam- 
ilies, the  education  for  class  social  position,  and 
the  instilling  of  aristocratic  notions  into  the 
minds  of  their  children  would  be  given  up.  The 
distinctions  sought  would  necessarily  be  limited 
to  real  superiority  of  lineage  and  not  at  all  to 
those  determined  by  hereditary  possessions.  In 
other  words  class  pride  and  class  aggrandisement 
must  disappear  as  class  distinctions  are  rendered 
impermanent  by  the  advent  of  democracy.  With 
classes  abolished  the  individual  would  rest  upon 
his  own  merits  as  a  member  of  society. 

F.  W.  Headley  in  Darwinism  and  Modern 
Socialism  bewails  the  fact  that  under  socialism 
it  will  be  impossible  to  "  found  a  family."  It 
is  true  that  much  of  the  family  pride  and  re- 
sponsibility will  be  abolished  along  with  equally 
unfounded  individual  responsibility.  The  pub- 
lic school  has  already  made  inroads  on  the  ex- 
ercise of  parental  responsibility  and  is  decried  as 
a  socialist  institution.  But  it  is  evident  that  the 


46       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

parent  has  as  much  power  to  educate  his  children 
himself  as  he  ever  actually  possessed.  The  re- 
sponsibility assumed  by  the  state  in  all  such  in- 
stances is  that  which  the  narrower  authority  was 
never  able  to  exercise  effectively. 

If  we  look  at  the  pronounced  socialistic 
measures  we  shall  find  that  they  are  merely  such 
as  would  be  naturally  brought  about  by  a  major- 
ity vote  in  regard  to  things  industrial  and  social. 
We  may  instance  the  tendency  toward  paternal- 
ism which  is  so  strongly  criticised.  The  com- 
mon man  desires  that  certain  things  be  done  for 
him  by  the  government.  Some  of  them  perhaps 
he  might  better  do  for  himself,  but  right  or 
wrong  his  demands  are  heard  by  a  government 
that  is  responsive  to  his  wishes. 

Then  there  is  the  main  contention  of  the  social- 
ist, that  the  government  should  receive  the  un- 
earned increment.  It  is  not  to  the  worker's 
advantage  that  a  private  individual  should  re- 
ceive this  inevitable  return  upon  investment  of 
capital,  for  then  it  would  pass  completely  out 
of  his  control,  whereas  if  it  is  taken  over  by  the 
government  he  will  have  a  voice  in  its  dis- 
posal. 

The  common  man,  so  immensely  in  the  major- 
ity, longs  for  a  government  that  is  responsive 
to  the  interests  of  his  own  class.  He  has  thus 
far  been  deluded  into  thinking  that  although 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        47 

the  conduct  of  business  is  far  from  just  he  might 
in  some  way  manage  to  win  one  of  the  unjust 
gains  for  himself.  His  gambling  spirit  has  hence 
predisposed  him  to  favour  a  system  in  which 
rich  prizes  await  the  fortunate  or  the  crafty. 
This  is  the  true  inwardness  of  much  of  the  in- 
dividualism for  which  the  typical  American  has 
been  so  highly  commended.  However  we  cannot 
believe  that  even  with  all  this  in  favour  of  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  laisser  faire  system  the  great 
bulk  of  the  citizens  of  our  country  would  have 
patiently  endured  seeing  themselves  involun- 
tarily contributing  to  these  rich  prizes  if  they 
had  had  within  their  easy  grasp  the  means  of 
altering  these  conditions.  This  means  socialism 
proposes  to  furnish  them. 

Many  other  questions  are  suggested  as  to  the 
meaning  of  socialism  with  reference  to  special 
problems.  It  is  constantly  sought  to  define 
socialism  by  its  results,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  replies  are  not  in  agreement.  Would 
socialism  prohibit  the  sale  of  intoxicants?  This 
is  a  question  which  presents  itself  to  the  socialist 
as  -one  regarding  the  degree  in  which  the  public 
policy  is  seen  to  demand  the  surrender  of  private 
or  individual  preference.  Socialism  holds,  as 
does  the  present  accepted  theory  of  government, 
that  public  policy  takes  precedence  over  in- 
dividual desire,  but  that  liberty  demands  that 


48       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

balance  between  the  demands  of  the  public  and 
those  of  the  individual  which  results  in  the  great- 
est freedom.  Hence  socialism  does  not  settle  this 
question  or  any  other  of  like  nature,  but  as  we 
shall  see  it  does  provide  the  machinery  by  which 
it  may  be  settled  equitably. 

Having  thus  examined  socialism  in  a  preli- 
minary way  as  to  what  it  includes,  we  may  next 
notice  those  reforms  which  unjustifiably  ap- 
propriate the  name  socialistic.  In  taking  up 
this  topic  of  pseudo-socialistic  reforms,  we  shall 
do  well  to  examine  our  definition  more  in  detail 
and  deduce  therefrom  the  essential  features  of 
true  socialism.  The  social  control,  as  was  stated, 
implies  adequate  organisation.  Without  organi- 
sation society  is  not  a  unified,  coherent  body,  but 
simply  an  inchoate  mass  of  human  individual- 
ities. Unless  natural  organisation,  that  is  spon- 
taneous self-adjustment  without  formal  system, 
is  in  force,  in  which  case  the  society  functions 
practically  as  an  organism,  there  must  be  a  codi- 
fied system  of  rules.  Such  a  system  of  rules 
or  laws  is  characteristic  of  the  organisation 
proper.  And  such  organisation  is,  except  for  the 
case  noted,  the  necessary  preliminary  to  real 
social  action, —  hence  to  that  supreme  social  ac- 
tion called  forth  by  socialism. 

This  organisation  should  be  sufficiently  com- 
plete to  accomplish  the  purpose  of  the  socialist 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        49 

state,  that  of  supplanting  warfare  and  competi- 
tion in  the  control  of  heredity  and  environment. 
It  must  be  at  least  as  extensive  and  thorough  as 
that  required  for  government,  since  it  includes 
that  function.  In  general  the  more  complete 
the  formal  organisation,  the  more  adequate  for 
the  socialist's  purpose,  always  considering  the 
appropriateness  of  the  particular  form  of  organi- 
sation in  question  to  the  purposes  involved. 
Thorough  organisation  alone  is  a  very  consider- 
able step  toward  the  realisation  of  the  socialistic 
state. 

In  the  second  place  in  order  to  "  direct  the 
further  progress  of  civilisation  "  there  must  be 
clearly  perceived  social  purposes  or  ideals.  It 
is  well  recognised  that  no  matter  how  perfect 
the  mechanism  of  a  social  organisation  may  be, 
unless  there  is  a  common  social  aim,  society  will 
degenerate  and  disintegrate.  Even  if  it  does  not 
do  so,  such  a  society  could  hardly  be  deemed  to 
control  its  further  progress,  for  control  implies 
the  directing  force  of  purposes  or  ideals  in  ac- 
cordance with  which  the  control  is  exercised. 
As  organisation  is  necessary  to  socialism  as  the 
instrument  through  which  control  is  to  be  ex- 
ercised, so  are  intelligently  perceived  social  pur- 
poses implied  as  the  outcome  of  that  social 
selfconsciousness  which  is  the  underlying  cause 
of  the  socialist  movement.  And  these  social 


50       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

purposes  are  naturally  the  formulated  and  ap- 
plied expression  of  the  common  social  ideals. 

Even  with  these  two,  organisation  and  socially 
perceived  ideals,  control  to  be  real  must  be  ac- 
companied with  another  essential  condition.  If 
it  is  to  be  exercised  consciously  society  must 
adopt  means  commensurate  with  its  purposes  and 
adapt  the  organisation  to  its  ideals.  It  must  not 
rule  in  the  manner  of  nature,  blindly  and  un- 
heedingly;  nor  may  it  allow  nature  to  reassume 
her  formerly  exercised  control  in  default  of  man's 
intelligent  adaption  of  means  to  conscious  ends. 
The  method  of  nature  is  that  of  the  survival  of 
the  fittest,  with  the  elimination  of  those  not 
thus  naturally  "  selected  " :  first  employing  war- 
fare as  the  agent  in  this  selective  process,  later 
competition.  These  two  methods  must  not  be 
allowed  to  intrude  into  the  sphere  of  the  con- 
scious method  of  selection  that  should  prevail 
under  socialism.  For  socialism  replaces  these 
crude  and  wasteful  processes  by  virtue  of  the 
same  economy  that  has  been  successfully  invoked 
to  guide  individual  conduct,  namely  intelligent 
decision.  Socialism  requires  that  society  em- 
ploy as  its  method  of  selection  that  intelligent 
decision  achieved  through  the  representative 
faculty  of  the  mind,  instead  of  that  of  direct 
trial  (warfare)  or  that  of  indirect  trial  (com- 
petition). 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        51 

Moreover  the  very  first  demand  of  awakening 
social  selfconsciousness  was  for  democracy  in 
the  realm  of  politics.  With  the  completely 
awakened  social  selfconsciousness  this  demand 
will  be  the  more  insistent  and  comprehensive. 
In  the  first  place  democracy  is  the  only  form  in 
which  the  government  can  be  presumed  to  ex- 
press the  common  will.  But  more  than  this,  it 
is  the  only  form  in  which  governmental  activity 
can  be  said  to  be  exercised  by  the  people  at 
large.  In  this  respect  it  is  to  be  contrasted  with 
nature  government,  i.  e.,  with  autocracy.  We 
may  suppose  that  autocracy  arises  without  any 
social  selfconsciousness  on  the  part  of  the  sub- 
jects. In  the  autocracy  the  role  of  the  citizen- 
ship is  purely  passive.  It  is  not  their  govern- 
ment but  a  government  of  them.  The  will  of  the 
despot  alone  receives  expression  in  the  state  un- 
less democracy  prevails.  So  far  is  autocracy 
from  expressing  the  collective  will,  and  so  serv- 
ing as  the  organising  forms  and  forces  which 
make  possible  the  social  unit,  that  it  may  be  said 
to  be  on  the  contrary  the  full  and  free  expression 
of  a  society  of  one.  (L'Stat,  c'est  moi.)  The  so- 
cialist society  will  be  the  furthest  possible  re- 
move from  nature  government,  or  autocracy. 
It  will  be  the  apotheosis  of  democracy. 

If  we  proceed  now  to  examine  many  of  the  so- 
called  socialistic  activities,  which  seem  at  first 


52       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

glance  to  justify  this  characterisation,  we  shall 
find  that  on  closer  inspection  they  will  be  found 
to  lack  one  or  more  of  these  four  indispensable 
characteristics:  viz.  organisation,  socially  per- 
ceived ideals  or  purposes,  decision  instead  of 
trial,  and  democratic  rule. 

We  may  instance  as  deficient  in  adequate  or- 
ganisation all  those  public  and  private  charities 
which  are  not  thus  far  thoroughly  co-ordinated 
with  the  other  economic  factors  affecting  the 
livelihoods  of  those  concerned.  For  thorough 
organisation  demands  such  co-ordination.  Pri- 
vate endowments  fall  into  the  same  category  and 
are  especially  worthy  of  notice  in  this  regard 
since  they  are  often  instanced  as  excellent  sub- 
stitutes for  socialist  measures,  involving  the  ap- 
propriation of  public  funds.  For  when  these 
benefactions  take  the  form  of  gratuities,  as  they 
commonly  do,  they  thereby  fail  to  take  into  ac- 
count the  correspondence  that  should  and  natur- 
ally does  exist  between  merit  and  reward. 
Moreover  they  all  lack  that  origin  in  commonly 
acknowledged  desert  which  is  assumed  in  the 
state  pension  for  past  meritorious  service.  Pen- 
sions and  all  forms  of  state  aid  proportioned  to 
service  are  commonly  socialistic  when  related 
to  the  other  rewards  for  service  distributed  by 
the  body  social,  in  other  words  when  a  part  of 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        53 

organised  compensation ;  pseudo-socialistic  when 
not  so  apportioned. 

But  there  are  many  activities  bearing  a 
thoroughly  organised  relation  to  the  other  ac- 
tivities of  the  state  which  still  lack  something 
of  falling  into  the  category  of  socialistic  enter- 
prise, because  they  are  not  informed  with  socially 
perceived  ideals.  Much  of  public  education  is 
in  this  condition.  It  may  be  objected  that  at  the 
worst  it  is  believed  to  fit  for  business.  This  can 
hardly  be  deemed  an  ideal  purpose  at  all,  for 
what  is  meant  is  that  it  trains  for  individual 
survival,  to  the  discomfiture  of  competitors.  In 
so  far  as  public  education  lacks  the  element  of 
ideal  social  purpose  it  can  not  be  truly  de- 
nominated socialistic. 

There  is  even  a  variety  of  the  organised  state 
relief  of  poverty  to  which  the  designation  social- 
istic must  be  denied  for  the  reason  that  it  is  not 
instinct  with  such  purpose.  This  system  of  poor 
relief  often  has  no  purpose  save  the  simply  hu- 
manitarian impulse  to  relieve  suffering  of  any 
sort.  A  broader  social  vision  would  sense  the 
error  of  pauperising  and  so  virtually  enslaving 
the  recipients  of  such  aid.  Preventable  poverty 
is  never  ideal  even  when  systematically  relieved. 

Almost  the  whole  of  our  penal  system  is  like- 
wise lacking  in  this  socially  perceived  purpose. 


54       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

There  is  behind  the  penal  laws  simply  a  desire  to 
avenge  private  injury  or  at  most  to  protect  society 
against  the  criminal.  Even  if  we  admit  that 
deterrent  laws  protect  society  against  crime,  and 
that  some  laws  are  aimed  at  the  reformation  of 
the  criminal,  we  have  still  to  note  the  objection 
that  there  is  no  plan,  consistent  as  a  whole,  which, 
aims  to  remove  the  source  of  the  corruption. 

There  are  other  typical  social  activities  which! 
are  undeniably  well  organised  and  even  purpose- 
ful, but  which,  are  still  to  be  rejected  as  pseudo- 
socialistic  because  they  do  not  rest  on  the  third 
essential  of  socialism,  social  decision,  but  instead 
on  competition  or  even  in  some  instances  on  war- 
fare. The  assertion  of  national  supremacy 
through  foreign  wars  may  indeed  be  regarded  as 
compatible  with  socialism  within  the  nation,  but 
clearly  not  as  between  nations.  Accordingly  it 
is  allowed  by  those  socialists  who  hold  the  limited 
nationalistic  view  of  society,  but  not  by  those 
who  accept  the  principle  of  socialism  as  of  world 
wide  application. 

Again,  public  works  undertaken  through  the 
contract  system  of  allotment  to  the  lowest  bidder 
are  lacking  in  the  element  of  social  decision, 
being  a  reversion  to  the  ante-socialist  principle 
of  competition.  Even  the  civil  service  depart- 
ment of  the  present  state  is  vitiated  as  a  truly 
socialistic  institution  by  the  competitive  stan- 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        55 

dard  which  determines  not  only  who  are  qualified 
to  enter  but  who  are  to  be  permitted  to  remain. 
This  again  is  contrary  to  that  principle  of  social- 
ism which  requires  that  social  decision  rather 
than  competition  should  determine  the  standard 
of  a  reasonable  day's  work  and  a  reasonable  re- 
ward. 

But  that  which  binds  all  these  attributes  of 
socialism  together  and  makes  them  practically 
effective  is  democratic  rule.  This  is  the  one  in- 
dispensable condition  of  effective  "  control  of 
heredity  and  environment  by  society."  Under  a 
deficiency  of  democracy  labour  most  of  those 
forms  of  state  enterprise  commonly  but  er- 
roneously denominated  "  socialistic."  And  most 
of  the  objections  to  a  socialistic  society  which 
obtain  among  thinking  people  are  based  upon 
the  unsatisfactory  working  of  just  these  forms 
of  enterprise.  Indeed  herein  is  afforded  the  very 
greatest  opportunity  of  despotism.  Whether 
such  state  enterprises  are  held  outside  the  control 
of  the  people  by  an  awkward  and  unmanageable 
system  of  representative  government,  backed  by 
a  property  rights  protecting  constitution  as  in 
the  United  States,  or  by  a  bureaucracy  ulti- 
mately responsible  only  to  the  crown  as  in  Ger- 
many,—  such  state  socialism  (better  called  state 
capitalism)  fails  utterly  to  be  truly  socialistic, 
through  its  lack  of  democracy. 


56       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

And  if  real  government  ownership  can  thus  af- 
ford such  opportunities  to  the  despot,  what  must 
be  said  of  that  spurious  public  ownership,  where 
the  government  holds  title  to  the  property,  the 
real  value  of  which  is  represented  by  privately 
held  national,  state,  or  municipal  bonds?  In 
this  case  the  governing  officials  if  not  directly 
responsible  to  the  people  and  removable  at  their 
pleasure  have  no  check  whatever  upon  the 
temptation  to  play  off  the  bond  holders  against 
the  public.  It  may  at  once  be  admitted,  as  it  is 
by  all  reputable  socialists,  that  without  demo- 
cracy public  ownership  would  result  in  the  worst 
sort  of  tyranny,  for  the  economic  and  political 
rulers  would  be  combined  into  one  despotic  over- 
lord. 

While  none  of  these  steps  are  socialistic  in 
themselves  and  some  are  extremely  dangerous 
in  their  incomplete  form,  they  are  ofttimes  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  render  the  establishment  of 
real  socialism  a  matter  easier  of  accomplishment. 
They  are  preliminary  steps  not  of  but  towards 
socialism.  Certain  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples underlying  the  American  government  are 
peculiarly  well  suited  to  the  purposes  of  social- 
ism. For  example  the  retention  of  the  right  of 
eminent  domain  is  most  fortunate.  It  is  the 
needful  principle  underlying  the  constitution  of 
the  socialist  state,  and  its  exercise  will  greatly 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM        57 

facilitate  the  assumption  by  the  state  of  social- 
istic functions  without  the  necessity  of  a  political 
revolution. 

As  before  stated  the  democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment is  also  a  considerable  part  of  the  necessary 
political  machinery  of  socialism.  It  therefore 
only  remains  to  make  our  political  machinery 
more  thoroughly  democratic.  All  those  measures 
such  as  the  recall,  the  initiative  and  referendum, 
proportional  representation,  etc.,  are  favourable 
to  socialism  precisely  in  the  measure  that  they 
are  favourable  to  democracy. 

Even  under  the  laisser  faire  policy  govern- 
ment has  a  tendency  to  reach  out  toward  the 
control  of  industry.  Public  service  commissions 
have  no  other  meaning.  While  they  ostensibly 
govern  men  instead  of  managing  industry,  they 
at  least  recognise  the  necessity  of  governmental 
interference  with  private  business.  They  can- 
not be  defended  on  any  other  assumption  than 
that  of  the  socialist, —  that  the  interests  of 
society  are  of  paramount  importance  and  are 
subject  to  protection  and  advancement  by  society 
acting  as  an  organised  unit. 

Then  too  there  is  more  than  a  hint  regarding 
the  probable  management  of  the  labour  problem 
in  the  civil  service.  While  the  method  of  selec- 
tion must  not  remain  competitive  except  on 
strictly  ideal  grounds,  the  examination  feature 


58       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

may  justifiably  remain  as  a  qualifying  test.  It 
would  then  be  the  task  of  the  examiner  to  so 
conduct  the  qualifying  test  that  it  would  furnish, 
a  true  indication  of  the  fitness  of  the  candidate 
for  the  position.  Such  competition  as  might  still 
remain  would  hardly  be  competition  proper  at 
all,  but  rather  merely  a  rivalry  for  that  good 
opinion  which  would  result  in  a  favourable 
choice  by  the  decision  of  those  delegated  to  ex- 
ercise such  choice. 

Organisation  within  industry  has  progressed 
apace,  if  not  with  governmental  approbation 
then  in  spite  of  its  absence.  The  forces  of  labour 
have  combined  into  labour  unions,  wrhile  the 
forces  exercising  a  directing  control  have  united 
into  vast  industrial  combines,  officered  by  "  cap- 
tains of  industry."  These  two,  the  one  represent- 
ing the  spirit  and  form  of  democracy,  albeit  a 
limited  democracy, —  the  other,  that  of  an  hered- 
itary autocracy,  are  the  most  notable  forerun- 
ners of  an  impending  industrial  autonomy.  That 
the  combination  of  capitalists  is  overshadowing 
and  overwhelming  the  unions  of  the  labouring 
proletariat  is  no  evidence  whatsoever  that  the 
contest  will  not  presently  be  renewed  on  a  field 
more  favourable  to  the  latter.  The  powers  of  the 
government  have  hitherto  been  successfully  in- 
voked only  by  the  forces  of  capital  and  seem  to 
have  been  altogether  overlooked  by  those  of  la- 


SOCIOLOGICAL  DEFINITION  OF  SOCIALISM         59 

bour,  but  with  the  new  spirit  of  political  democ- 
racy in  the  air  it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  this 
preoccupation  of  the  forces  of  labour  with  the 
more  direct  industrial  means  will  be  for  long.  It 
seems  far  more  likely  that  the  powers  conferred 
by  political  democracy  will  presently  be  per- 
ceived and  seized  upon  by  the  workers  to  usher 
in  industrial  democracy. 

Both  forms  of  organisation,  even  in  their 
present  imperfect  state,  promise  much  for  social- 
ism: the  trust  because  it  is  furnishing  ready  to 
hand  the  forms  of  organisation  and  the  enforced 
submission  of  the  workers  to  industrial  rule, 
much  as  monarchy  accustomed  its  subjects  to  po- 
litical rule,  or  slavery  accustomed  the  workers 
to  habitual  and  regular  endeavour;  the  labour 
union  because  it  trains  the  workers  directly  in 
the  forms  and  exercises  of  democratic  govern- 
mental functions  as  applied  to  industrial  prob- 
lems, much  as  local  self  rule  accustomed  the  peo- 
ple to  the  exercise  of  legislation  for  the  common 
good  before  the  general  establishment  of  political 
democracy. 

"  As  socialism  is  the  child  of  capitalism,  capi- 
talism will  show  it  how  to  set  about  its  busi- 
ness. " — Macdonald:  The  Socialist  Movement. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL 

WE  have  seen  that  socialism  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  logical  and  natural  part  of  that  great  world 
movement  whose  political  expression  was  a  de- 
mand for  democracy  in  government.  We  have 
next  to  see  how  this  demand  reaches  its  culmina- 
tion in  the  desire  that  the  political  democracy 
be  used  to  establish  an  industrial  and  social  de- 
mocracy, in  place  of  the  present  oligarchy  of 
wealth.  We  may  perhaps  best  proceed  in  this 
attempt  by  enumerating  and  examining  the  vari- 
ous phases  of  civilisation  that  may  seem  to  call 
for  this  radical  change  in  industrial  and  social 
institutions. 

Civilisation  may  be  defined  as  the  sum  total 
of  social  heredity.  Of  this  inheritance  by  far 
the  most  conspicuous  element  is  the  mass  of  ma- 
terial wealth  and  invention  which  have  so 
changed  the  conditions  of  life  on  the  earth.  But 
this  material  inheritance  is  after  all  of  less  im- 
portance than  the  spiritual  inheritance  of  senti- 
ment and  culture  which  would  quickly  supply 
the  impulses  and  knowledge  for  the  reproduction 

60 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL      61 

of  the  material  element  if  the  latter  should  in  any 
way  be  lost. 

It  is  evident  that  changes  in  social  institutions, 
and  grounds  for  further  changes,  are  constantly 
becoming  apparent.  In  a  general  way  we  say 
that  this  is  the  progress  of  civilisation.  This 
process  is  cumulative.  Each  stage  embodies 
something  from  each  of  the  preceding  stages  and 
gives  rise  to  its  successor  by  a  process  of  natural 
and  inevitable  evolution.  It  is  often  questioned 
whether  the  ground  of  each  successive  stage  is 
to  be  found  purely  in  material  conditions,  which 
are  largely  an  inheritance  from  the  preceding 
stage. 

Not  to  enter  too  deeply  into  the  question  of  the 
ultimate  sources  of  social  forces,  we  may  at  least 
conclude  that  we  find  them  working  through 
knowledge,  ideals,  and  sentiments.  That  these 
may  have  had  an  origin  depending  largely  on 
prevalent  economic  conditions  we  may  admit,  but 
they  must  be  examined  in  ipse.  They  are  com- 
prised in  the  social  heredity  as  apart  from  the 
material  and  biological  heredity.  It  is  with  this 
non-material  body  of  social  heredity,  forming  the 
spiritual  element  of  civilisation,  that  we  are  first 
concerned  in  seeking  to  know  the  forces  under- 
lying the  socialist  movement. 

In  this  aspect  civilization  embraces  all  the 
educational  and  institutional  machinery  which 


62       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

is  so  vital  a  factor  in  the  environment  of  each 
individual  born  into  the  civilised  community. 
The  forces  of  this  spiritual  inheritance  set  up 
certain  powerful  antagonisms  with  some  of  the 
natural  instincts  of  man  and  also  tend  to  strongly 
reinforce  other  instincts  which  are  naturally 
weak.  In  the  first  place  they  tend  to  make  him 
pro-social  instead  of  anti-social.  He  must  per- 
force become  somewhat  socialised.  In  the  sec- 
ond place  he  is  taught  to  employ  his  reason  in- 
stead of  the  method  of  trial  and  error.  He  thus 
comes  to  rely  on  systematic  effort  rather  than 
on  luck.  The  institutions  of  civilisation  are 
constantly  becoming  more  and  more  such  that 
effort  is  rewarded  with  certainty  and  nothing  is 
left  to  chance.  Organisation  is  accomplishing 
its  work  so  that  the  institution  of  society  pos- 
sesses ever  greater  internal  and  external  har- 
mony. 

The  efficiency  of  the  individual  life  is  thus 
promoted  by  the  education  which  helps  it  to 
adapt  itself  to  its  surroundings,  and  by  the  in- 
stitutions by  which  its  surroundings  are  in  a 
measure  adapted  to  its  own  nature.  The  indi- 
vidual's powers  are  thus  extended.  Want  is  un- 
necessary to  those  who  have  productive  effort  to 
contribute,  and  a  pleasure  economy  is  ready  to 
be  installed  in  which  men  will  not  feel  them- 
selves so  much  driven  by  want  as  lured  by  de- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL      63 

sire.  Leisure  becomes  attainable  for  the  ma- 
jority largely  as  a  result  of  the  conservation  and 
systemisation  of  resources  through  institutional 
control.  All  this  follows  as  the  general  effect 
of  the  spiritual  influences  arising  through  the 
advance  of  civilisation. 

But  the  direct  effect  of  the  progress  of  civ- 
ilisation on  the  spiritual  life  is  also  to  be  noted. 
The  larger  conception  of  the  unity  of  life,  its 
oneness  in  time  and  space,  is  a  necessary  result 
of  the  knowledge  growing  out  of  better  methods 
of  investigation  and  communication.  And  not 
only  the  conception  of  the  unity  of  life  but  that 
unity  itself  contributes  to  this  advance  in  the 
state  of  civilisation.  With  communication  prac- 
tically universal  the  conflict  between  incompati- 
ble ideas  becomes  ever  fiercer,  and  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  alone  assured. 

All  this  allows  for  a  broader  socialisation  than 
has  yet  been  seen.  Indeed  socialisation  may  be 
deemed  almost  synonomous  with  the  spiritual 
aspect  of  civilisation.  And  this  increase  in  so- 
cialisation reacts  to  the  further  advancement  of 
civilisation,  with  the  most  important  conse- 
quences. For  it  is  not  improvement  in  the  arts 
applied  to  inanimate  nature  that  tells  most  for 
the  progress  of  civilisation,  but  in  those  that  ap- 
ply to  human  relations.  This  improvement  is 
well  summed  up  in  the  term  socialisation,  the 


64       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

adaptation  of  the  individual  to  live  in  society, 
particularly  that  society,  let  us  hope,  which  has 
been  previously  adapted  to  receive  and  welcome 
him. 

Under  civilisation  are  however  several  spir- 
itual influences  not  directly  implied  in  the  term 
socialisation.  As  the  first  of  these  we  may  men- 
tion the  regard  for  justice.  This  regard  for  jus- 
tice springs  from  a  high  development  of  indi- 
viduality alone.  Recognition  of  and  regard  for 
individuality  itself  is  a  necessary  preliminary. 
And  an  enlightened  individuality  cannot  fail  to 
result  in  an  enhanced  sense  of  justice.  Har- 
monious relations  between  individuals  calls  im- 
peratively for  a  recognition  of  the  necessity  of 
justice.  Injustice  even  if  in  my  favour  gives  me 
but  temporary  benefit  and  results  inevitably  in 
my  injury  in  the  long  run.  It  is  to  my  advantage 
that  the  whole  society  to  which  I  belong  should 
prosper.  Injury  to  any  member  will  react  on 
all  if  I  belong  to  a  thoroughly  civilised  com- 
munity. Only  by  a  series  of  continued  unjust 
advantages  could  this  tendency  of  injustice  to 
injure  me  be  overcome  and  result  in  my  perma- 
nent advantage.  And  as  the  disadvantages  are 
cumulative  these  unjust  advantages  in  my  favor 
would  have  to  be  of  increasing  injustice,  with  a 
final  disadvantage  to  me  when  the  system  finally 
breaks  down,  as  it  obviously  must  from  its  cumu- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL      65 

lative  and  progressively  increasing  character. 
Hence  enlightened  individuality  no  less  than 
sympathetic  altruism  demands  the  abolition  of 
injustice. 

Another  tendency  of  civilisation  is  the  com- 
parative elimination  of  chance.  Civilised  man 
likes  to  reckon  with  certainty  upon  the  results 
of  his  labours  and  is  progressively  more  able  to 
do  so.  In  fact  we  may  say  that  the  progress  of 
civilisation  may  be  pretty  accurately  estimated 
by  the  progress  in  establishing  a  fixed  reward 
for  effort.  Modern  man  turns  to  games  of 
chance  as  a  recreation  in  accordance  with  the 
well  established  law  that  sport  exhibits  a  ten- 
dency to  repeat  the  activities  of  comparatively 
primitive  life.  Now  socialism  seeks  to  eliminate 
chance  so  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned  from 
the  entire  realm  of  the  business  world.  A  day's 
certain  wage  replaces  the  uncertainties  of  the 
speculative  entrepreneur's,  reward.  .  This  is 
about  the-  only  foundation  for  the  charge  of  cre- 
ating the  dead  level  so  often  decried  in  socialism. 
It  is  thus  seen  to  be  in  the  direct  line  of  civilisa- 
tion. 

Another  consequence  of  civilisation  is  the  sys- 
temisation  of  human  endeavour.  The  savage 
works  aimlessly,  or  at  most  by  uncoordinated 
spurts  of  impulsive  activity.  His  now  and  his 
then,  and  his  here  and  his  there  are  in  no  partic- 


66       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

ular  relation.  The  civilised  man  plans  and  ex- 
ecutes. His  acts  are  related  to  each  other  and 
to  his  purposes,  in  time  and  space.  He  thinks 
logically  and  works  systematically.  By  this 
means  he  avoids  the  waste  of  the  trial  and  result 
method  of  arriving  at  conclusions,  and  the  fric- 
tion of  working  at  cross  purposes  with  his  envi- 
ronment. Socialism  seeks  to  introduce  this  prin- 
ciple of  action  into  the  social  and  industrial 
world.  At  present  nobody  plans  the  general  con- 
duct of  society  or  business.  It  certainly  is  not 
the  function  of  the  state  to  do  so  under  the  laisser 
faire  policy.  Each  individual  business  man  is 
working  with  the  most  imperfect  knowledge  of 
the  plans  of  every  one  else  and  frequently  at  cross 
purposes  when  he  does  know  them.  Even  if  per- 
fectly informed  he  could  not  be  depended  upon 
to  work  in  harmony  with  others  when  actuated 
and  directed  only  by  his  own  impulses.  Hence 
the  business  and  social  world  is  a  chaos  ruled  at 
long  range  only  by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand, 
and  judged  only  by  the  final  results  in  national 
survival  or  decay. 

Civilisation  implies  moreover  a  rise  from  the 
purely  physical  to  the  mental  plane.  This  so- 
cialism provides  for  by  its  method  which  is  that 
of  mental  comparison  and  decision  rather  than 
that  of  physical  struggle  or  material  competition. 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       6T 

That  civilisation  has  arrived  at  a  stage  where 
this  advance  is  to  be  expected  is  apparent  from 
the  conscious  purposes  manifested  by  societies 
as  a  whole.  Great  phrases  like  those  made  cur- 
rent during  the  French  Revolution  reveal  the 
common  thought  in  the  minds  of  many.  Ideals 
for  which  men  fight  and  to  which  they  devote 
themselves  in  times  of  peace  bear  testimony  to 
the  fact  that  man's  intelligence  can  at  last  be  ap- 
pealed to  otherwise  than  by  force  or  by  the  pres- 
sure of  material  want.  The  conduct  of  society 
like  the  conduct  of  the  individual  is  ready  to 
take  on  an  ethical  and  consciously  responsible 
character.  It  is  reaching  the  years  of  discre- 
tion. 

The  aesthetic  instinct  is  closely  allied  to  the 
ethical.  The  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good 
go  together.  It  is  no  accident  that  most  artists 
are  socialists.  The  artist  feels  the  need  of  social 
justice  more  keenly  than  the  rest  of  his  fellows. 
Poverty  is  a  blot  on  the  social  landscape.  It  is 
not  merely  that  the  artist  wants  justice  for  him- 
self, he  can  see  no  beauty  in  an  inharmonious  and 
jarring  society.  Moral  and  esthetic  order  in- 
volve social  order,  which  can  never  be  attained 
under  our  present  system  of  industrial  and  so- 
cial anarchy;  at  least  not  until  leaders  of  all 
sorts  become  more  far-seeing  than  they  are  likely 


68       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

to  become,  with  the  assistance  of  all  sorts  of  gov- 
ernmental education  and  research,  for  many 
ages. 

All  sciences  are  capable  of  furnishing  a  pe- 
culiar beauty  which  is  perceived  through  the  con- 
templation of  their  various  forms  of  harmony. 
Now  the  science  of  sociology  has  only  the  beauty 
of  harmonious  human  relations  to  offer.  The 
real  sociologist  must  perforce  be  a  reformer. 
Whether  he  turns  to  socialism  or  not,  he  is  pro- 
foundly dissatisfied  with  our  present  industrial 
system  and  with  the  society  which  depends  on 
it.  It  is  true  that  some  historians  profess  to 
admire  our  institutions  and  their  beneficent  ef- 
fects. Such  regard  is  born  only  from  a  com- 
parison with  previous  even  more  chaotic  indus- 
trial systems.  It  would  never  be  independently 
suggested  by  a  study  of  present  conditions  in 
the  light  of  present  standards  of  efficiency. 

The  insistence  of  the  socialists  on  the  im- 
portance of  the  immediate  improvement  of  the 
physical  and  material  conditions  of  the  masses 
has  been  quite  erroneously  ascribed  to  a  pre- 
occupation with  the  grossly  material  aspects  of 
civilisation.  This  interest  in  the  material  wel- 
fare of  the  masses,  invariably  in  evidence 
throughout  socialistic  thought,  is  shown  in  pleas 
for  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  the  privations 
of  poverty,  and  is  usually  set  forth  by  contrast- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL      69 

ing  it  with  the  superabundance  of  the  opulent. 
This  particular  form  of  presentation  is  unfor- 
tunate, for  it  naturally  calls  forth  the  charge  of 
envy.  It  is  easily  explained  otherwise.  Start- 
ing with  the  desire  to  prove  that  this  miserable 
condition  of  the  poverty  stricken  is  unnecessary 
and  remediable,  it  is  most  natural  that  the  ma- 
terial means  by  which  it  might  be  assuaged 
should  be  suggested  as  a  basis  for  comparison. 
We  may  well  believe  that  the  source  of  the  com- 
parison may  be  found  in  this  consideration 
rather  than  purely  in  motives  of  envy. 

Furthermore  we  should  note  that  the  validity 
of  this  appeal  rests  upon  and  presupposes  a  ready 
response  to  humanitarian  motives;  that  its  ef- 
fectiveness is  in  direct  proportion  to  such  re- 
sponsiveness. Can  we  expect  this  appeal  to  in- 
crease in  effectiveness?  The  answer  that  we 
make  to  this  question  depends  upon  our  views  as 
to  the  increasing  prevalence  of  humanitarian 
sentiments.  That  such  sentiments  are  upon  the 
whole  becoming  more  powerful  is  probably  com- 
monly admitted.  Various  movements  of  the  last 
century  point  in  this  direction.  In  the  realm  of 
law  we  find  the  punitive  idea  gradually  super- 
ceded  by  the  reformative  aim,  in  religion  the 
idea  of  an  avenging  Deity  is  displaced  by  that 
of  a  forgiving  Father,  in  art  the  slightest  sugges- 
tion of  pain  is  fatal,  in  music  there  is  a  progress 


70       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

towards  the  peaceful  and  harmonious  as  opposed 
to  the  dissonant  striving  symphony,  in  literature 
the  century  is  distinguished  from  all  preceding 
ages  by  the  rise  of  the  humanitarian  spirit. 
Coming  down  to  the  latest  movements  of  our 
own  times,  we  find  not  only  legitimate  expres- 
sions of  this  spirit  everywhere,  but  even  the  most 
grotesque  exaggerations,  viz.,  the  abolition  of 
corporal  punishment  of  children  in  the  school 
and  in  the  home,  vegetarianism,  the  anti-vivisec- 
tion movement,  the  legacies  for  the  care  of  or- 
phaned canines,  etc. 

In  appealing  to  this  growing  sentiment  the 
socialist  finds  ample  justification  for  criticism 
of  many  prevailing  conditions  for  the  workers. 
He  is  able  to  make  a  strong  comparison  between 
the  state  of  the  toiler  for  wages  and  the  slave. 
If  he  makes  the  most  of  this  opportunity  it  is  but 
distinctly  to  his  credit.  He  seeks  only  to  relieve 
suffering  that  is  in  no  wise  due  to  the  conse- 
quences of  individual  action.  This  is  far  in- 
deed from  the  mawkish  sentimentality  with 
which  he  is  often  charged.  His  greater  sensi- 
tiveness to  the  results  of  social  injustice  is  merely 
an  evidence  of  his  advanced  state  of  sympathy. 
This  increased  sensitiveness  cannot  fail  to  indi- 
cate an  advanced  position  in  human  development, 
for  it  is  most  pronounced  among  most  highly 
civilised  peoples.  Humanitarianism  is  one  of 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       71 

the  essentials  of  civilisation.  The  socialist  hopes 
for  the  advance  of  his  cause  through  its  increase. 

If  we  examine  briefly  the  probabilities  regard- 
ing the  increase  of  this  sentiment  we  shall  dis- 
cover no  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  to  cease  in  its 
growth.  Sympathy  is  an  elemental  emotion  that 
follows  our  comprehension  of  the  emotional 
states  of  others.  Hence  the  cultivation  which 
accompanies  civilisation  brings  in  its  train  the 
enlargement  of  this  sentiment.  We  may  men- 
tion as  one  of  the  factors  of  this  increased  com- 
prehension, the  view  promulgated  by  the  doc- 
trine of  human  evolution.  This  has  by  placing 
man  in  a  series  with  all  living  organisms  made 
him  seem  to  be  related  to  all  forms  of  living 
creatures,  and  very  closely  to  his  fellow  men. 
Its  effect  has  been  hence  to  minimise  distinctions 
of  family,  class,  nationality,  and  even  race,  so 
far  as  the  question  of  their  common  humanity 
is  concerned. 

Another  modern  force  tending  to  increase  sym- 
pathy is  found  in  those  forms  of  art  which  cause 
one  to  lose  his  personality  temporarily  in  that 
of  another.  This  is  one  of  the  distinct  missions 
of  the  drama  and  to  an  even  greater  extent  of 
the  novel,  for  to  it  they  chiefly  owe  their  interest 
and  success.  But  it  cannot  fail  to  produce  this 
inner  comprehension  of  the  feelings  of  another 
that  is  the  basis  of  sympathy.  Interest  in  "  how 


72       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  other  half  lives  "  cannot  fail  to  be  aroused. 
And  the  enormous  increase  in  these  forms  of  art 
thereby  becomes  a  force  for  the  increase  of  sym- 
pathy. 

Again  philanthropy  has  become  an  organised 
systematic  institution  engaging  the  whole  time 
and  attention  of  hundreds  of  educated  workers 
and  the  interests  of  many  of  the  well  to  do.  It 
furnishes  an  outlet  for  the  humanitarian  feeliugs 
of  the  latter,  but  more  important  by  far,  it  brings 
them  somewhat  into  contact  with  the  more  un- 
fortunate part  of  humanity.  This  results  in  a 
more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  miseries  endured 
by  the  poverty  stricken  and  eventually  leads  to 
some  consideration  of  the  grounds  and  causes  of 
their  unfortunate  condition.  A  less  fatalistic 
view  of  the  inevitableness  of  poverty  is  born  of 
more  accurate  knowledge  of  its  causes.  It  is 
seen  to  depend,  in  part  at  least,  on  the  faults  of 
society.  Science  has  greatly  aided  this  more 
accurate  diagnosis  by  displacing  the  teaching  of 
the  older  theology  that  suffering  follows  only 
from  personal  transgression  of  the  law,  as  the 
direct  and  heaven  sent  consequence  of  sin.  In- 
stead of  asking,  "  Which  has  sinned,  this  man  or 
his  father?  "  science  seeks  to  know  by  what  un- 
fortunate combination  of  circumstances  the 
maladjustment  arose. 

Nor  does  the  fatalism  of  predestined  ill  longer 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       73 

hold  undisputed  sway  over  the  natural  pity  for 
the  fallen.  The  larger  comprehension  of  the 
sources  of  such  evils,  portrayed  as  by  Dickens 
for  example,  has  led  people's  minds  into  more 
practical  if  less  self-satisfied  lines  of  reflection. 
Nor  is  the  conviction  that  undeserved  suffering 
exists,  so  frequently  overcast  as  formerly  by  the 
belief  that  a  kindly  Providence  has  relieved  well 
meaning  people  of  all  responsibility.  The  re- 
sulting release  both  from  the  view  of  providen- 
tial tribulation  against  which  it  would  be  im- 
pious as  well  as  useless  to  contend,  and  from  the 
sense  of  irresponsibility  following  from  the  doc- 
trine of  predestination,  has  left  humanity  free  to 
remedy  human  ills.  A  vastly  better  comprehen- 
sion of  social  responsibility  is  resulting. 

Thus  far  the  rise  of  humanitarianism  has  been 
taken  as  sui  generis.  It  is  in  fact  intimately  as- 
sociated with  the  spread  of  Christianity,  al- 
though not  demonstrably  dependent  on  that 
movement  either  for  its  initial  impulse  or  for  its 
development.  Christianity  itself  involves  many 
forces  tending  to  humanitarianism,  inconsider- 
able only  if  taken  singly.  In  general  the  great 
emphasis  placed  on  the  other  regarding  im- 
pulses leads  inevitably  to  an  affirmative  answer 
to  the  query  adopted  as  distinctively  Christian, 
"  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?  "  As  such,  Chris- 
tianity has  preached  the  brotherhood  of  man, 


74       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

with  the  Golden  Rule  as  the  concrete  embodiment 
of  its  doctrine.  The  socialist  of  every  creed  has 
always  appealed  strongly  to  this  motive,  and  the 
appeal  like  that  to  sympathy  is  increasingly  ef- 
fective. Socialism  has  been  well  defined  in  the 
words  of  Frances  E.  Willard  as  "Applied 
Christianity."  11  That  a  religion  of  such  ideals 
could  not  fail  to  provide  a  basis  for  social  re- 
form is  obvious.  The  ideal  of  personal  right- 
eousness demands  the  righteous  society,  if  such 
an  individual  is  to  survive.  Moreover,  it  im- 
plies the  righteous  society  as  its  fulfilment. 

The  similarity  of  the  aim  of  Christianity  and 
that  of  socialism  will  become  still  more  apparent 
when  we  consider  the  method  of  socialism,  and 
find  that  socialism  not  only  adopts  the  cardinal 
Christian  doctrine  of  non-resistance,  but  eschews 
that  refined  warfare  manifesting  itself  as  compe- 
tition. It  may  be  stated  without  hesitation  that 
every  practical  admonition  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion is  reaffirmed  by  socialism.  To  be  sure, 
supernatural  sanctions  are  not  given  or  at  least 
emphasised,  but  rational  sanctions  replace  or  re- 
inforce these. 

Even  the  other -worldliness  of  Christianity  usu- 
ally so  objectionable  to  the  socialist  has  con- 

11 "  It  is  the  very  marrow  of  Christ's  gospel.  It  is  Chris- 
tianity applied."  Address  at  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Convention  at  Buffalo  in  1897. 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       75 

tributed  to  the  success  of  his  movement,  for  it 
has  led  to  the  despising  of  material  wealth  and 
the  struggle  therefor.  Hence  it  has  weakened 
the  spirit  of  competition  by  this  renunciation,  as 
it  has  that  of  warfare  by  the  doctrine  of  non-re- 
sistence. 

It  has  been  shown  that  Christianity  has  as 
one  of  its  essential  basic  elements  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  importance  of  the  individual  self- 
consciousness.  It  is  the  religion  of  selfhood  be- 
fore it  can  be  the  religion  of  altruism.  But  this 
emphasis  on  the  importance  of  the  individual 
selfconsciousness  has  other  and  very  far-reach- 
ing applications.  For  the  personality  is  sub- 
ject to  progressive  enlargement  by  the  taking  in 
of  elements  more  and  more  alien  to  that  nar- 
rowly individual  self  which  is  the  essence  of  the 
individuality,  before  the  latter  is  enlightened  by 
selfconsciousness.  The  earliest  and  most  pri- 
mary extension  of  this  purely  individual  self- 
consciousness  occurs  in  the  institution  of  the 
family.  Here  each  member  feels  the  first  en- 
largement of  his  personality  —  feels  himself 
identified  in  material  and  spiritual  interests  with 
another.  The  mother  and  the  child, —  the  father 
and  the  child, —  the  father  and  the  mother, — 
finally  the  father,  mother  and  child,  become 
firmly  and  more  or  less  permanently  united. 

Soon  we  find  this  community  of  interests  ex- 


76       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

tended  with  the  extension  of  the  family  circle. 
The  gens  and  the  tribe  are  successively  felt  to 
be  a  part  of  the  now  somewhat  socialised  self. 
More  dimly  but  nevertheless  in  a  real  sense  the 
individual  sees  that  his  welfare  is  bound  up  with 
the  welfare  of  his  fellows.  In  the  period  of  na- 
tionalism, which  historically  follows  these  bar- 
barous aggregations  of  men,  the  "  consciousness 
of  kind"  becomes  more  marked  and  takes  on 
definite  form  expressed  in  systematically  organ- 
ised institutions.  To  the  virtue  of  loyalty,  at 
first  directed  to  wife  and  child  and  later  to  chief, 
is  superadded  that  of  patriotism,  or  loyalty  in 
the  abstract,  to  the  group  idea  as  expressed  in 
principles  and  institutions. 

That  man  could  rest  satisfied  in  this  devotion 
to  an  abstraction  is  hardly  to  be  expected.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find  that  he  tends  on  the  one  hand 
to  make  his  idea  of  the  nation  synonomous  with 
humanity,  and  on  the  other  to  give  concrete  ex- 
pression to  his  devotion  in  religious  worship. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  divorce  the  term  religion 
from  its  possibly  original  meaning,  that  which 
binds  together.  It  is  the  idea  of  the  oneness  of 
all  nature,  especially  as  most  significant,  of  all 
human  nature,  that  underlies  all  religion.  Any 
religion  that  puts  the  emphasis  elsewhere  than 
on  humanity  is  but  a  pseudo-religion.  We  must 
expect  then  that  the  culmination  of  social  self- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       77 

consciousness  must  be  a  religion  of  humanity, 
a  universal  religion.  Society's  selfconscious  ex- 
istence acquires  a  new  significance  in  its  own 
eyes,  and  the  newly  emancipated  and  enfran- 
chised ensemble  of  mankind  goes  forth  with  the 
resolve  to  attain  and  preserve  a  thoroughly  in- 
tegrated life  for  itself  as  a  whole.  Humanity 
has  attained  its  majority. 

This  coming  of  age  of  society  is  quite  anal- 
ogous to  the  narrower  coming  of  age  of  the  indi- 
vidual. It  is  accompanied  by  the  rational  per- 
ception of  its  own  integrity,  and  a  conscious  re- 
inforcement of  its  purposes  through  the  will.  A 
plan  is  progressively  laid  out  and  adopted  after 
deliberation.  There  follows  an  adaptation  of 
means  to  ends  and  a  discarding  of  the  outworn 
method  of  trial  and  error  wherever  feasible. 

This  application  of  social  selfconsciousness 
may  be  noted  a  little  further  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  individual.  It  is  agreed  by  all  stu- 
dents of  sociology  that  man  is  becoming  progres- 
sively advanced  in  social  selfconsciousness.  This 
growth  may  be  traced  through  several  stages. 
We  have  first  the  stage  of  individual  warfare,  in 
which  each  man  is  instinctively  egotistic,  in  a 
purely  naive  self-seeking.  Next  we  find  him 
conscious  of  his  purposes ;  and  first  singly,  then 
in  combination  with  little  cliques  of  his  like  spir- 
ited comrades,  he  aggrandises  himself  at  the  ex- 


78       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

pense  of  natural  resources  or  of  his  less  actively 
self-seeking  or  weaker  fellows.  We  next  find  a 
whole  society  made  up  of  individuals  who  have 
reached  this  stage.  Life  is  on  all  sides  a  con- 
stant struggle  for  dominion.  This  is  the  con- 
scious purpose  of  each.  Man  becomes  cynical 
because  he  is  well  aware  that  each  is  thoroughly 
and  often  avowedly  selfish.  But  now  more  per- 
manent groups  are  formed  who  agree  to  arbitrate 
their  differences  in  the  interests  of  the  group 
domination  over  the  mass.  Thus  we  find  the 
aristocrat  lording  it  over  the  commons,  the  pa- 
trician over  the  plebeian,  the  capitalist  over  the 
proletariat. 

But  there  is  at  all  times  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  the  individual  members  of  the  privileged 
group  to  break  the  implicit  or  "  gentleman's  " 
agreement  on  which  their  concord  depends,  with 
the  consequence  that  the  members  of  the  group 
encourage  the  making  of  laws  to  preserve  the 
existing  order,  to  uphold  the  state,  or  latterly  to 
"  regulate  business."  Anything  is  better  than 
the  constant  defection  of  associates  to  compete 
against  the  group  for  individual  advantage,  even 
a  government  that  seems  to  limit  the  powers  of 
privilege. 

That  this  government  at  first  develops  under 
the  auspices  of  a  chief  as  ruler  need  not  blind 
us  into  believing  the  fiction  taught  by  the  older 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL      79 

historians  that  it  is  the  personality  of  the  ruler 
that  is  the  main  force  in  establishing  or  uphold- 
ing  the  government  or  in  fact  in  any  way  re- 
sponsible for  it.  For  a  stage  is  finally  reached 
where  this  ruler  becomes  not  indispensable  and 
the  group  along  with  the  unprivileged  revolt 
against  monarchy;  that  is,  the  group  refuses 
longer  to  do  homage  to  the  one  for  the  sake  of 
the  prestige  thereby  gained  over  the  many.  A 
limited  voting  class  thereupon  appears,  to  repre- 
sent the  class  of  the  socially  selfconscious.  But 
this  class  becomes  larger  and  larger,  resulting 
first  in  manhood,  then  in  adult  suffrage. 

This  increasing  social  selfconsciousness  has 
two  more  steps  to  take.  First,  society  as  a  whole 
must  become  socially  selfconscious  to  such  a  de- 
gree as  to  assume  direction  over  all  socially  im- 
portant affairs.  Secondly,  the  individuals  com- 
posing this  selfconscious  society  must  each  be- 
come completely  socialised,  realising  in  his  own 
consciousness  the  total  aim  of  the  society  of 
which  he  is  a  member.  These  successive  steps 
give  rise  to  the  two  future  forms  of  society,  based 
respectively  upon  socialism  and  upon  anarchism. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  society  can  be- 
come selfconscious  per  saltum  and  en  masse. 
The  capitalist  group  is  naturaly  the  first  of  mod- 
ern groups  to  become  so.  Formerly  the  most 
advanced  group  was  undoubtedly  the  clerical. 


80       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

In  considering  his  own  interests  each  capitalist 
is  aware  that  they  are  quite  similar  to  those  of 
other  capitalists.  He  knows  to  whom  to  turn 
for  sympathy  and  aid  in  his  endeavours  to  se- 
cure favorable  legislation.  For  an  increasing 
number  of  purposes  he  is  at  one  with  his  asso- 
ciates. It  is  not  surprising  that  the  "  gentle- 
men's agreements  "  by  which  rates  of  fare  are 
set  by  supposedly  competing  railroads  at  what 
the  traffic  will  bear  and  the  price  of  milk  ad- 
vanced simultaneously  by  numerous  separate 
companies,  to  mention  only  two  flagrant  cases, 
should  be  far  and  away  in  advance  of  the  similar 
agreements  among  workingmen's  organisations. 
The  camaraderie  of  men  of  wealth  is  stimulated 
by  the  enjoyment  of  pleasures  in  common  and 
the  banquet  is  typically  the  common  meeting 
ground  of  great  business  rivals. 

In  time  this  comradeship  is  noticed  by  those 
who  are  exploited  through  the  laws  enacted  at 
the  behest  of  this  coterie.  Bitterness  springs 
up,  but  there  is  for  a  long  time  no  concerted 
action  on  the  part  of  the  exploited;  largely  be- 
cause of  hope,  it  may  be,  that  each  will  be  taken 
into  the  self-favoured  group,  and  for  the  further 
reason  that  there  has  heretofore  been  the  oppor- 
tunity for  those  possessing  initiative  to  rise  into 
this  dominating  group.  It  will  be  my  conten- 
tion in  the  following  pages  to  show  that  this  op- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       81 

portunity  is  gradually  becoming  denied.  Even 
if  this  were  not  the  case,  we  have  at  least  to  no- 
tice how  the  class  conscious  position  of  each  of 
the  two  bodies  is  becoming  constantly  more  dis- 
tinct, and  as  such  more  and  more  strongly  de- 
manding every  hour  that  equality  of  opportunity 
shall  prevail. 

But  we  should  distinguish  clearly  between  this 
class  interest  and  the  more  basic  social  selfcon- 
sciousness  that  we  found  to  be  the  most  signifi- 
cant sociological  characteristic  of  our  times. 
While  social  selfconsciousness  is  the  general  and 
diffused  notion  that  society  is  in  a  larger  sense 
the  self,  and  as  such  to  be  defended  and  enhanced, 
class  interest  is  the  rational  perception  that  the 
narrowly  individual  self  is  at  one  in  interests 
and  purposes  with  others  who  are  situated  in  a 
like  condition.  Of  course  the  social  selfcon- 
sciousness reinforces  this  perception  and  receives 
a  peculiarly  intimate  field  of  application  in  this 
narrow  social  self.  We  find  then  here  and  there 
locally  and  fitfully  arising  about  certain  trades 
and  industries  as  centres  of  crystalisation,  the 
phenomenon  known  widely  through  the  preach- 
ing of  socialist  agitators  as  "  class  conscious- 
ness," which  might  be  briefly  defined  as  class  in- 
terest reinforced  and  informed  by  social  con- 
sciousness. 

The  rise  of  class  consciousness  therefore  im- 


82       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

plies  that  the  integration  of  self  consciousness 
has  proceeded  far  enough  to  permit  the  social  me, 
i.  e.,  society  as  conceived  by  the  individual  in 
question,  to  act  as  the  background  or  screen  on 
which  is  to  be  projected  the  image  of  this  en- 
larged or  group  individual  me.  We  may  add 
that  this  cannot  occur  until  the  social  me  has 
attained  a  sufficient  degree  of  definiteness  and 
integrity  to  admit  of  being  thus  used  as  an 
apperceiving  mass.  The  group  is  thus  seen  as 
the  larger  individual  me  and  so  related  to  the 
social  me. 

This  is  an  entirely  different  matter  from  the 
forced  associations  which  arise  from  the  attempt 
to  secure  mutual  aid  in  protection  and  aggran- 
disement. From  such  forced  associations  the  me 
has  never  become  emancipated.  There  is  no  re- 
lation between  the  individual  and  the  group,  for 
the  individual  is  not  regarded  by  himself  or 
others  as  distinct  from  the  group.  These  in- 
stinctive associations  have  arisen  everywhere 
that  men  have  found  advantage  in  them.  On 
the  other  hand  one  would  hardly  claim  that  con- 
jugal love,  parental  love,  friendship,  loyalty  to 
party,  or  patriotism,  took  their  rise  from  these 
considerations  of  forced  association.  The  latter 
arise  rather  from  a  voluntary  identification  of 
the  self  with  the  larger  circle  of  fellow  beings. 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL       83 

As  such,  they  are  a  conscious  extension  of  the 
already  somewhat  differentiated  ego. 

We  must  then  regard  the  development  of  class 
consciousness  as  a  step  in  this  process  of  broad- 
ening the  self-inclusiveness.  It  follows  the  rise 
of  social  selfconsciousness  by  presenting  the 
class  as  a  larger  ego  related  to  society  by  the 
former.  It  will  eventually  become  coextensive 
with  the  society  postulated  by  the  larger  social 
selfconsciousness,  and  will  thus  form  the  medium 
through  which  the  individual  directly  appre- 
hends the  fulness  of  society. 

While  social  consciousness  gets  its  impulse 
still  from  religious  or  altruistic  feelings,  class 
consciousness  rests  upon  the  more  tangible  foun- 
dation of  a  broadened  selfishness.  It  cannot  be 
too  strongly  insisted  that  the  latter  does  not  re- 
quire a  changed  human  nature,  except  perhaps 
a  somewhat  more  broadly  intelligent  human  na- 
ture. Intelligence  is  subject  to  education ;  class 
consciousness  can  be  developed  in  men  not  of 
exceptional  calibre.  It  is  not  a  Quixotic  mis- 
sion to  attempt  to  awaken  this  feeling  in  the 
common  mind.  To  this  extent  at  least  we  must 
admit  that  socialism  is  not  impracticable. 

Class  consciousness  is  moreover  bound  to  re- 
sult in  no  other  form  of  society  than  socialism. 
The  particular  class  consciousness  certain  to  re- 


84       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

suit  thus  is  of  course  that  of  the  lower  or  prole- 
tarian class.  Suppose  that  this  whole  class 
should  be  raised  to  the  ruling  power  by  some 
overturn  of  material  conditions  while  the  pres- 
ent institutions  of  privilege  were  maintained; 
the  whole  movement  would  be  but  an  interchange 
of  individual  positions.  Indeed  the  socialists 
have  been  accused  by  the  undiscriminating  or 
interested  critics  of  wishing  to  accomplish  just 
this.  These  critics  ignore  the  patent  fact  that 
the  proletarians  are  not  seeking  to  adjust  them- 
selves to  the  present  perpetuated  conditions  of 
privilege,  but  are  seeking  to  adjust  the  condi- 
tions to  themselves  —  to  abolish  privileges  in 
which  they  a$  proletarians  cannot  share. 

The  socialist  unification  of  society  results  from 
the  obvious  fact  that  while  the  aristocracy  could 
not  embrace  all  or  any  considerable  part  of  so- 
ciety, the  democracy  cannot  but  embrace  all  of 
it.  It  is  almost  axiomatic  that  "  they  will  rule 
who  can."  Hence  the  masses  will  rule  just  as 
soon  as  they  realise  their  power  and  their  class 
interest,  If  they  rule  according  to  their  own 
desires,  as  we  may  assume  will  be  the  case,  they 
must  be  guided  by  those  principles  of  govern- 
ment that  tend  to  favour  the  masses.  On  no  other 
basis  will  they  be  able  to  unite.  It  is  on  this 
fact  that  the  inherent  strength  of  the  idealism  of 
democracy  rests.  Democracy  is  powerless  to 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  SPIRITUAL      85 

unite  on  any  other  basis  than  ideals,  i.  e.,  so- 
cially perceived  purposes.  Hence  socialism  is 
inevitable  under  real  democracy  if  the  masses  be 
class  conscious.  Social  consciousness  which 
precedes  and  is  in  general  preliminary  to  class 
consciousness,  lends  assurance  of  permanence 
and  power. 

We  may  examine  the  development  of  class 
consciousness  a  little  further  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  individual.  We  shall  find  that  it  is 
a  more  complex  perception  than  the  more  pri- 
mary social  consciousness.  It  is  a  most  peculiar 
but  suggestive  fact  that  a  man  will  fight  for  his 
country  far  sooner  than  he  will  fight  for  his  class. 
His  first  allegiance  is  to  the  whole  society  of 
which  he  feels  himself  to  be  a  part.  This  may 
result  from  his  sense  that  while  his  relations 
with  the  whole  are  fewer,  they  are  more  har- 
monious than  with  those  of  the  group.  At  any 
rate  a  general  sense  of  nationality  manifested  in 
patriotism  has  been  universally  the  historical 
preliminary  to  the  discovery  that  after  all  one's 
interests  are  more  directly  identified  with  those 
of  one's  economic  class.  It  takes  some  experi- 
ence and  much  understanding  to  arrive  at  the 
knowledge  that  the  welfare  of  the  nation  is  not 
necessarily  the  welfare  of  the  individual  citizen. 

Nevertheless,  each  has  learned  by  this  identi- 
fication of  self  with  the  nation  to  look  outside 


86       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

himself.  It  is  later  that  his  social  consciousness 
becomes  concentrated  in  his  class.  Then  the 
measure  of  his  relation  to  society  as  a  whole  be- 
comes expressed  through  the  intermediate  term 
of  his  relation  to  his  class  and  of  his  class  to  so- 
ciety. His  social  orientation  is  now  sufficiently 
complete  so  that  having  identified  himself  with 
his  class,  he  now  tries  to  make  his  class  predomi- 
nant in  society.  While  his  real  social  self  is  the 
class,  his  ideal  social  self  is  society. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  consider  that  the 
workings  of  this  class  consciousness  as  a  force 
producing  socialism  is  confined  to  the  lower 
class.  It  operates  with  quite  as  great  force 
among  those  who  find  that  they  belong  to  a  class 
more  favourably  situated.  In  this  case  the  ten- 
dency to  extend  the  limits  of  the  class  so  as  to 
include  all  who  are  deemed  worthy  is  quite  as 
strong.  In  both  cases  the  individual  is  related 
to  his  class  through  a  broad  selfishness  and  his 
class  is  related  to  society  through  altruism  ex- 
pressing itself  in  terms  of  the  ideal.  Class  con- 
sciousness is  the  lever  with  which  the  spiritual 
forces  enumerated  will  endeavour  to  materialise 
their  yearning  for  social  justice. 


CHAPTER  V 

FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,   MATERIAL 

THE  spiritual  forces  predominating  at  the  pres- 
ent day  have  been  seen  to  have  a  strong  trend 
towards  socialism.  If  we  turn  to  a  consideration 
of  those  material  forces  which  are  increasingly 
called  into  being  under  our  form  of  civilisation, 
we  shall  find  that  here,  too,  we  are  being  urged 
toward  a  remedy  for  existing  economic  evils. 

The  most  marked  characteristic  of  our  times 
is  the  increase  in  cooperation.  It  will  not  re- 
quire any  enumeration  of  conditions  or  events  to 
demonstrate  this.  Associations  of  all  sorts  are 
witness  to  this  tendency.  The  progressive  or- 
ganisation of  business,  uniting  under  one  sys- 
tem the  combined  efforts  of  thousands  of  super- 
intendents and  workmen  is  the  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  modern  industry.  Not  only  the  in- 
tense efforts  of  the  labour  unions  to  unite  all 
workers  for  the  purpose  of  collective  bargain- 
ing with  the  captains  of  industry  commanding 
the  vast  aggregations  of  capital,  but  the  numer- 
ous voluntary  associations  for  every  conceivable 

87 


88       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

purpose,  strikingly  demonstrate  this  tendency  of 
our  time. 

Although  the  advantages  of  cooperation  must 
have  been  apparent  very  early  in  the  history  of 
man,  it  was  for  a  long  time  impossible  for  him 
to  make  any  extended  use  of  the  principle.  As- 
sociation is  necessary  to  this  form  of  enterprise. 
This  demands  a  sense  of  security  from  the  fear 
of  personal  attacks  by  a  partner.  If  we  note 
the  insecurity  from  such  betrayals  of  confidence 
at  the  present  time  we  can  understand  that  not 
without  a  considerable  degree  of  social  organi- 
sation can  extensive  cooperation  become  a  re- 
ality. All  the  while,  however,  the  demand  for 
cooperation  is  increasing.  The  vast  proportions 
of  modern  business  which  have  followed  upon 
worldwide  communication  and  intercourse  have 
demanded  this  great  increase  in  associated  in- 
dustry as  a  greatly  desirable  economy.  More- 
over, this  enlarged  cooperation  is  absolutely  de- 
manded by  the  system  arising  from  the  modern 
means  of  production.  It  is  that  organization 
which  follows  on  scientific  discovery  of  the  meth- 
ods most  productive.  The  means  of  production 
have  been  marvellously  improved  by  the  inven- 
tion both  of  tools  and  processes.  But  the  utili- 
sation of  these  improved  means  demands  the  co- 
operative efforts  of  many  workers. 

The  association  of  workers  in  cooperative  ac- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL       89 

tivity  is  hardly  most  natural  to  mankind.  Man 
is  by  nature  independent  and  freedom  loving. 
It  consequently  takes  considerable  pressure  to 
get  him  to  work  harmoniously  with  his  fellows. 
The  schooling  of  men  to  work  together  has  been 
the  main  task  of  the  capitalist  system.  This 
work  has  been  well  done:  few  nationalities  but 
are  able  to  work  together  for  wages.  The  his- 
torical role  of  slavery  was  to  make  a  beginning 
in  this  direction.  The  day  of  the  necessity  of 
the  capitalist  and  of  the  slave  owner  alike  is 
past. 

Greater  progress  in  the  line  of  cooperation 
waits  on  greater  justice  alone.  For  the  worker 
will  participate  freely  in  a  common  task  only 
when  he  is  assured  that  justice  will  prevail  in 
the  distribution  of  the  product.  Hence  the  fur- 
ther establishment  of  justice  will  bring  as  an 
immediate  consequence  an  increase  in  the  prac- 
tice of  cooperation.  Even  our  present  co- 
operation among  men  of  wealth  would  be  im- 
possible without  the  regulation  of  business  by 
the  law.  For  the  law  determines  in  a  measure 
the  relation  between  investors  and  hence  the  re- 
turn on  investment  which  each  may  hope  to  re- 
ceive. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  cooperation  in  busi- 
ness should  be  at  present,  in  the  preliminary 
stages,  of  a  militant  nature;  at  first  defensive, 


00       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

later  predatory.  For  this  is  but  observing  the 
order  in  which  all  cooperation  has  arisen.  But 
we  should  note  as  of  extreme  importance  the 
fact  that  as  a  predatory  band  the  individuals  co- 
operating cannot  be  inclusive  of  the  whole  people. 
While  in  what  we  may  believe  will  be  the  final 
form  of  the  cooperative  combination,  as  a  band 
engaged  in  the  conquest  of  nature,  they  can 
hardly  be  otherwise  than  all  inclusive.  This 
stage  is  yet  to  come.  It  answers  strictly  to  our 
definition  of  socialism  so  far  as  form  of  organisa- 
tion is  concerned. 

The  probability  of  the  progressive  abolition 
of  industrial  competition  may  be  taken  up  a  little 
more  at  length.  For  of  course  it  is  competition 
that  is  displaced  in  each  instance  by  cooperation. 
It  is  hardly  to  be  denied  that  the  latter  is  gain- 
ing rapidly  on  the  former  at  the  present  time. 
The  question  is  what  this  change  is  due  to  and 
whether  it  may  be  expected  to  continue  and  in- 
crease. 

In  general  we  may  account  for  the  replace- 
ment of  competition  by  cooperation  in  business 
as  due  to  the  economic  law  that  whenever  the 
advantages  of  probable  victory  over  a  rival  are 
less  than  the  saving  to  be  effected  by  combina- 
tion with  that  rival,  then  that  combination  will 
take  place  and  cooperation  will  supersede  com- 
petition. For  instance  two  milk  companies  will 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL       91 

remain  competitors  so  long  as  the  profits  pros- 
pective as  a  result  of  the  extra  business  which 
either  may  attract  away  from  its  rival  are 
greater  than  would  be  the  saving  obtainable  from 
a  share  in  the  combined  business.  When  this 
point  is  passed  they  unite.  This  is  the  method 
of  the  elimination  of  competition  when  the  com- 
petitors are  of  approximately  equal  strength. 
The  process  when  they  are  not  of  equal  strength 
is  well  understood.  It  consists  simply  in  under- 
selling the  rival  until  his  resources  are  exhausted 
or  until  he  is  willing  to  accept  favourable  terms 
for  combination.  Occasionally  of  course  a  los- 
ing concern  lingers  long,  making  little  if  any 
profit,  and  is  tolerated  on  account  of  its  small 
capacity  for  diminishing  the  profits  of  its  rivals. 
The  methods  of  monopoly  formation  which  are 
usually  related  to  the  foregoing  process  will  be 
taken  up  later.  What  is  sought  here  is  merely 
to  understand  how  cooperation  grows  at  the 
expense  of  competition. 

Cooperation  is  a  tolerably  good  measure  of 
civilisation,  for  it  marks  out  the  material  con- 
sequences of  the  civilisation  almost  perfectly. 
This  will  be  seen  if  we  consider  the  nature  of  the 
life  of  civilised  man  as  compared  with  his  life 
in  the  natural  state.  Man  as  man  has  probably 
never  lived  and  worked  entirely  alone.  It  is 
quite  probable  that  he  has  always  from  the  be- 


92       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

ginning  deserved  the  name  of  the  political 
animal.  But  we  can  readily  find  him  under 
primitive  conditions  hunting,  fishing,  and  forag- 
ing quite  alone.  He  early  learned  cooperation 
in  fighting.  When  he  began  to  till  the  land  he 
worked  largely  alone  at  first,  at  most  changing 
work  when  the  character  of  the  task  required. 
Just  as  soon  as  the  character  of  his  neighbours 
made  such  a  procedure  possible  he  began  to  trade 
with  them.  This  is  a  sort  of  cooperation.  He 
learns  to  rely  upon  his  fellows  to  supply  a  part 
of  his  needs  and  engages  in  turn  to  supply  a 
part  of  theirs.  But  this  arrangement  is  of  a 
temporary  nature  and  in  each  individual  in- 
stance more  or  less  unpremeditated  and  depen- 
dent on  the  exigencies  of  the  moment.  It  is 
voluntary  and  capricious.  Later  the  wage  sys- 
tem is  introduced  (to  pass  over  slavery  as  an 
involuntary  mode  of  cooperation).  Under  this 
system  men  gather  together  for  regular,  system- 
atised  cooperation  at  the  behest  of  a  capitalist 
master  who  prescribes  the  mode  of  production 
and  even  guarantees  its  results  —  for  a  considera- 
tion in  the  form  of  profits.  But  this  coopera- 
tion still  seems  to  be  incomplete  for  it  ends 
before  the  best  purpose  of  cooperation  begins, 
at  the  distribution  of  the  product.  That  is  still 
subject  to  the  rule  of  competition,  manifesting 
itself  as  the  competitively  fixed  price  of  labour. 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL       93 

Hence  the  beneficent  results  of  cooperation  in 
industry  are  largely  lost  by  the  workers  and  the 
appellation  of  "  wage  slavery "  to  their  condi- 
tion obtains  justification. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  most  extensive  ap- 
plication of  the  principle  of  cooperation  at  the 
present  time,  that  to  government.  In  fighting 
as  might  be  expected  man  has  always  been  a 
step  in  advance  of  the  form  prevailing  in  in- 
dustry, for  it  was  in  this  that  he  was  forced  to 
cooperate  first.  Accordingly  we  find  that  he 
has  formed  more  or  less  voluntary  associations 
called  nations,  the  essential  aspect  of  which  is 
their  significance  as  fighting  units.  From  fight- 
ing enemies  to  providing  for  the  general  needs, 
which  is  after  all  only  a  sort  of  fighting  against 
the  parsimony  of  nature,  is  however  a  short  and 
easily  taken  step;  especially  if  the  conditions 
imposed  by  nature  are  such  as  to  render  it  neces- 
sary for  national  survival.  Hence  we  have  the 
nation  not  only  providing  for  the  common  de- 
fence, but  establishing  means  of  communication, 
looking  after  the  protection  of  persons  and  pro- 
perty, providing  for  the  dissemination  of  in- 
formation, and  for  the  general  education  through 
a  system  of  public  schools.  Finally  it  must 
logically  be  extended  to  serve  all  those  eco- 
nomic and  social  needs  which  are  common  to  the 
generality  of  its  citizens.  That  the  state  has 


94       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

been  misused  by  various  agencies  in  the  interests 
of  such  objects  as  the  aggrandisement  of  indi- 
viduals, as  an  instrument  of  religious  pro- 
paganda, as  a  vehicle  of  capitalistic  exploitation, 
as  a  bulwark  of  privilege,  etc.,  should  not  blind 
us  to  its  true  and  logical  function  as  an  all  con- 
venient agency  to  provide  for  the  general  wel- 
fare. 

We  have  seen  that  cooperation  as  a  principle 
of  industrial  action  has  increased  in  importance 
as  civilisation  has  advanced,  and  that  it  is  re- 
placing competition  by  a  process  of  necessary 
and  quite  inevitable  economic  evolution.  We 
shall  find  that  what  may  be  named  as  the  second 
great  characteristic  of  industry  under  civilisa- 
tion renders  the  advent  of  socialism  not  so  much 
inevitable  as  desirable,  as  the  only  means  of 
escape  from  an  otherwise  intolerable  situation. 
This  second  marked  characteristic  of  civilised 
industry  is  the  division  of  labour. 

Division  of  labour  is  not  as  might  be  thought 
dependent  on  cooperation,  but  arises  independ- 
ently and  is  a  primary  phenomenon  of  vital  or- 
ganisation. It  is  a  natural  and  invariable 
consequence  of  the  inclusion  of  dissimilar  ele- 
ments in  every  organic  structure.  It  is  quite 
as  much  the  cause  as  the  result  of  cooperation. 
We  find  it  among  the  cells  of  all  but  the  sim- 
plest forms  of  life  and  among  the  members  of 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL       95 

every  species  of  plant  and  animal.  The  primary 
division  especially  in  the  latter  is  that  of  sex. 
It  makes  for  economy  of  function  and  for  di- 
vergent progressiveness,  but  it  has  certain 
unfortunate  consequences  to  the  individual;  for 
on  account  of  it  he  becomes  an  incomplete  en- 
tity. The  unit  of  society  is  not  the  individual : 
at  its  lowest  terms  it  is  the  family,  temporary 
or  permanent.  In  other  words  division  of 
labour  tends  directly  to  induce  specialisation 
with  all  the  important  consequences  of  the  lat- 
ter. 

This  specialisation  is  the  universal  conse- 
quence of  the  division  of  labour:  we  find  it  oc- 
companying  any  possible  diversity  of  function 
among  the  cells  of  an  organism.  It  is  also 
natural  among  the  members  of  any  closely  knit 
organisation,  such  as  the  swarm  of  bees.  Dif- 
ferentiation has  here  taken  place  as  the  result 
of  specialisation  until  the  unit  is  not  the  single 
bee  but  the  swarm,  and  the  whole  functions  not 
as  an  organisation  but  as  an  organism. 

There  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  process  of 
specialisation.  Physical  and  mental  character- 
istics seem  to  be  responsive  to  its  demands,  un- 
til significant  individuality  is  all  but  lost. 
Since  human  society  furnishes  no  exception  to 
this  tendency,  we  are  here  in  grave  danger  of  a 
catastrophe  which  civilisation  has  accidentally 


96       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

exposed  us  to.  The  effort  of  blind  nature  to 
effect  economies  normally  results  in  the  sub- 
stitution of  the  organism  for  the  organisation. 
As  we  saw,  this  means  the  sinking  of  the  in- 
dividual in  the  whole.  There  are  two  alter- 
native possibilities  outside  of  this  one.  The  first, 
proposed  by  the  extreme  individualist,  is  virtu- 
ally to  do  away  with  association  altogether :  the 
second,  proposed  by  the  socialist,  is  to  adhere 
strictly  to  the  principle  of  the  organisation  while 
retaining  all  the  advantages  of  association. 
Either  of  these  two  proposals  demands  volun- 
tary action  by  society,  or  its  members;  for  we 
shall  otherwise  be  absorbed  in  the  organic  society 
that  nature  assisted  by  its  unconscious  agents, 
the  forces  of  the  business  world,  is  establishing 
in  accordance  with  the  natural  law  according  to 
which  economies  are  sought  in  lower  processes 
at  the  expense  of  higher  ones. 

In  modern  industry  we  have  this  exemplified 
in  the  most  striking  manner.  In  the  first  place 
over-specialisation  produces  one-sided,  incom- 
plete personalities  wholly  dependent  on  the  body 
social,  and  incapable  of  exchanging  occupations 
with  other  members.  In  the  second  place  it  re- 
sults in  a  comparatively  static  society.  It  in- 
clines to  take  on  the  characteristics  of  the 
organism  rather  than  those  of  the  organisation, 
and  as  such  it  is  subject  to  the  laws  of  slow 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      97 

change  of  the  former  as  against  the  comparative 
adaptability  of  the  latter. 

Under  specialisation  efficiency  of  the  static 
form  cannot  be  denied.  There  is  a  decided  posi- 
tive gain  in  this  respect.  But  it  is  at  the  loss 
of  true  individuality  and  consequently  of  social 
fluidity.  In  society  this  is  manifested  by  a  more 
or  less  rigid  system  of  castes,  by  a  highly  special- 
ised series  of  occupations,  usually  intensified 
into  hereditary  guilds,  and  often  based  on  ac- 
tual differences  of  form  as  well  as  function,  and 
by  the  entirely  logical  assigning  of  the  govern- 
mental and  managing  functions  to  a  class.  That 
this  perceived  efficiency  is  often  urged  in  favour 
of  monarchical  or  aristocratic  government  as 
against  democracy  is  hence  quite  accountable. 
But  the  human  being  tenaciously  proclaims  his 
right  to  be  an  individual  entity,  and  so  protests 
against  the  unnecessary  specialisation  which 
would  steal  away  his  opportunity  to  become  such. 

The  division  of  labour  in  human  society  has 
come  about  in  a  rather  uncalculated  manner. 
Only  to  a  very  limited  extent  is  it  the  result 
of  individual  choice.  This  choice,  when  opera- 
tive, we  may  suppose  will  be  exercised  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  possession  of  native  capacity 
consciously  perceived:  for  one  chooses  that  in 
which  he  believes  he  has  capacity  as  demon- 
strated by  previous  success.  The  chance  ele- 


98       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

ment  of  nature  also  enters  along  with  other 
factors.  The  opportunities  of  time  and  place 
circumscribe  or  determine  the  limits  of  the  pos- 
sible or  at  least  the  advantageous  employments, 
causing  one  occupation  to  be  taken  up  at  greater 
advantage  than  another.  These  native  capaci- 
ties and  natural  opportunities  will  always  vary, 
no  matter  how  ideally  the  conscious  development 
of  the  social  environment  is  planned.  Natural 
ability  and  natural  opportunity  are  then  the 
normal  basis  of  the  division  of  labour. 

But  man  has  cunningly  contrived  another  and 
far  more  potent  cause  which  may  and  usually 
does  largely  disregard  these  normal  bases. 
This  as  we  have  seen  is  specialisation  in  industry. 
In  place  of  the  natural  opportunity  offered  un- 
der nature,  we  have  the  most  highly  and 
ingeniously  devised  localisation  and  segregation 
of  industries  on  the  one  hand  and  the  most 
artificial  and  arbitrary  classification  of  workers 
on  the  other.  In  the  first  place  occupations  are 
designed  without  the  slightest  reference  to  the 
good  of  their  future  employees;  in  the  second 
place  the  employees  are  given  little  if  any  op- 
portunity to  exercise  their  choice  of  occupation. 

Thus  in  dealing  with  specialisation  we  are 
dealing  with  an  artificial  factor  in  the  mode 
of  industry,  which  like  most  artificial  elements 
is  capable  of  infinitely  greater  development  than 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      99 

those  purely  natural  in  origin.  Specialisation 
here  becomes  the  conscious  attempt  to  enhance 
one  faculty  at  the  expense  of  others  because  by 
this  arrangement  coupled  with  the  division  of 
labour,  greater  productiveness  results.  This 
specialisation  proceeds  without  any  necessary 
reference  to  natural  ability  and  often  in  direct 
defiance  thereof.  It  is  a  powerful  agency  in 
increasing  productiveness  and  is  about  the  only 
form  of  socialisation  that  takes  place  at  the 
expense  of  the  individuality.  Indeed  it  is  sur- 
prising how  many  of  our  social  evils  can  be 
directly  traced  to  its  malevolent  influence. 

Moreover,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  capitalism 
favours  it  or  indeed  that  a  progressive  increase 
in  its  sphere  is  not  inevitable  under  capitalism. 
It  is  too  patent  a  fact  directly  before  us.  Every 
workshop  of  whatever  kind  is  an  example  of  this 
truth.  The  self-seeking  of  industry  for  the  sake 
of  the  product  can  never  lead  in  any  other  direc- 
tion. 

A  division  of  labour  that  springs  from 
personal  choice  for  the  sake  of  the  producer  is 
an  entirely  different  matter  and  is  as  desirable 
as  the  former  plan  is  undesirable.  Such  choice 
is  not  favoured  under  the  competitive  system  for 
the  worker  is  obliged  to  consider  the  product 
rather  than  himself  at  every  turn.  Nothing 
must  be  allowed  to  handicap  his  striving  for  the 


100      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

utmost  possible  productivity.  He  is  obliged  to 
keep  up  to  the  competitively  set  pace.  Stan- 
dards of  wages  and  livings  are  thus  determined 
for  him,  and  he  dare  not  disregard  them.  But 
the  system  springing  from  individual  choice  and 
natural  opportunity  will  efface  the  evils  of  over- 
specialisation  in  industry  and  leave  much  of  its 
beneficient  results.  The  gratification  of  indi- 
vidual choice  and  the  utilisation  of  native  capa- 
city have  been  shown  to  be  entirely  in  harmony. 
Only  the  driving  force  of  competitive  standards 
is  responsible  for  the  evil,  and  with  this  eli- 
minated specialisation  assumes  only  normal 
proportions. 

But  meantime  specialisation  thus  carried  on 
to  the  worker's  disadvantage  is  becoming  an  ever 
more  prominent  feature  of  our  industrial  system. 
It  is  not  commercially  profitable  that  a  work- 
man be  concerned  in  any  other  process  than  that 
in  which  he  is  immediately  employed.  Hence 
any  attempt  on  his  part  to  learn  the  trade  in  its 
entirety  is  discouraged.  It  is  difficult  to  see 
how  anything  in  competitive  industry  can  ever 
overcome  this  tendency.  The  workman  is  not 
permanently  valuable :  so  that  no  considerations 
of  his  welfare  can  enter  into  the  matter.  That 
is  his  affair  and  not  his  master's,  for  more  un- 
spoiled hands  can  be  had  at  the  same  or  even 
cheaper  wages.  Thus  he  is  not  even  cared  for 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM;  MATERIAL      101 

as  was  the  slave.  There  is  a  growing  tendency 
to  regard  labour  as  something  apart  from  the 
individual  labourer.  It  is  assumed  that  labour 
is  bought  rather  than  the  labourer  hired.  Eela- 
tions  between  employer  and  employee  become  de- 
humanised. Over-specialisation  brings  no  direct 
harm  upon  those  in  control  of  industry.  And 
labour  as  a  commodity  becomes  the  cheaper  as 
specialisation  becomes  the  more  intense.  Social- 
ism alone  by  enabling  the  labourer  to  protect 
his  own  interests  as  a  labourer  can  overcome 
the  growing  evils  arising  from  over-specialisa- 
tion. We  shall  see  how  this  will  be  accomplished 
when  we  come  to  consider  the  method  of  social- 
ism. 

The  two  most  salient  features  of  our  modern 
industrial  system,  cooperation  and  division  of 
labour,  are  both  seen  to  favour  the  establishment 
of  socialism.  These  remind  us  of  a  third  feature, 
the  factory  system.  The  factory  system  exists 
as  an  independent  factor  in  the  industrial  sys- 
tem. It  is  not  essential  to  either  cooperation 
or  the  division  of  labour,  though  it  intensifies 
both  greatly.  Its  significant  sociological  char- 
acteristic is  that  it  requires  the  labourer  to  sell 
himself  into  slavery,  a  limited  slavery  both  as 
regards  duration  and  nature  of  occupation,  to 
be  sure,  but  nevertheless  a  real  personal  sub- 
jection to  the  factory  boss.  Formerly  in  the 


102      SOCIALISiM  "AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

period  of  household  industries  it  was  the  pro- 
ducts only  that  were  sold.  The  worker's  time 
and  the  use  he  should  make  of  it  remained  his 
own.  The  custom  which  has  replaced  this 
private  production  depends  partly  on  con- 
venience, but  more  on  the  greater  efficiency  of 
work  done  under  the  immediate  driving  super- 
vision of  the  boss.  Besides,  this  system  allows 
no  misuse  or  misappropriation  of  materials,  for 
as  we  have  learned,  locked  doors  prevent  un- 
licensed exit  with  such  goods. 

The  factory  system  results  in  the  regimenta- 
tion of  labour.  It  thus  facilitates  cooperation. 
But  it  is  doubtful  if  it  would  have  reached  pro- 
portions nearly  so  large  if  it  had  not  been  called 
for  by  the  introduction  of  machinery.  It  does 
not  entirely  depend  upon  this  cause  as  might  be 
supposed,  for  it  may  develop  as  a  consequence 
of  cooperation  alone  or  in  conjunction  with  the 
division  of  labour.  Its  primary  cause  is  the  ad- 
vantage in  the  direction  of  labour  by  the  superin- 
tendent. This  requires  the  presence  of  all  the 
workers  in  one  place.  But  where  the  work  to  be 
done  requires  nothing  more  than  the  following 
out  of  well  standardised  processes  and  where 
the  raw  materials  are  uniform  in  quality  and 
easily  portable,  the  factory  system  does  not  pre- 
vail unless  the  work  requires  special  facilities 
not  easily  furnished  in  an  isolated  workroom. 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      103 

Such  facilities  are  power  and  certain  sorts  of 
machinery. 

The  consequences  of  the  introduction  of  the 
factory  system  upon  the  conduct  of  industry  are 
many  and  important.  In  the  first  place  regular 
and  prescribed  hours  of  labour  are  insisted  upon. 
The  method  of  doing  work  tends  to  become  de- 
finitely standardised:  the  work  room  conditions 
are  fixed.  Finally  a  working  rate,  at  least  as 
a  minimum,  is  established;  and  all  employees 
are  compelled  to  live  up  to  it.  Most  important 
of  all  are  the  consequences  that  follow  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  worker  that  is  bought  rather 
than  the  work.  The  worker  engaging  to  followj 
instructions  obediently,  the  superintendent  or 
foreman  becomes  responsible  for  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  product.  The  worker  is  but 
a  temporary  slave  under  his  direction.  Indi- 
viduality in  productive  methods  is  entirely  lost. 
Piece  work  in  the  factory  is  an  anomaly :  its  true 
place  is  in  the  individual  work  shop.  For  there 
it  is  able  to  conform  to  the  convenience  of  the 
home  worker.  In  the  factory  the  worker  sells 
himself;  it  is  the  business  of  the  foreman  to 
make  good  use  of  him. 

Since  under  the  piece  work  system  the  product 
rather  than  the  producer  is  paid  for,  this  is  by 
far  the  more  proper  system  of  remuneration. 
It  is  objectionable  only  because  under  it  the 


104      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

iron  law  of  wages  works  without  let  or  hindrance. 
It  is  showing  the  same  tendency  to  displace  the 
method  of  compensation  proper  to  the  factory, 
payment  by  time,  much  in  the  same  way  and  for 
the  same  reason  that  wage  labour  supplants 
slave  labour.  The  evils  consequent  to  its  further 
introduction  will  be  an  increase  of  those  with 
which  the  "  wage  slave  "  is  familiar.  They  are 
peculiar  to  a  purely  competitive  system  of  in- 
dustry and  cannot  be  wholly  or  largely  eli- 
minated so  long  as  that  system  prevails. 

We  leave  further  consideration  of  the  methods 
of  the  present  factory  system  and  its  alternative 
under  competition  for  consideration  in  connec- 
tion with  the  method  of  socialism,  and  proceed 
to  consider  another  of  the  forces  in  modern  in- 
dustry tending  toward  socialism,  namely,  the  in- 
troduction of  machinery.  The  immense  signi- 
ficance of  this  is  promptly  seen.  Machinery  in 
displacing  hand  workers  has  enabled  one  work- 
man to  turn  out  the  product  formerly  requiring 
several  workers.  This  workman  would  tend  to 
receive  the  wage  formerly  received  by  all  or  at 
least  the  value  of  the  product  as  thus  increased, 
if  he  owned  the  machinery  with  which  he  turns 
out  this  increased  product ;  but  since  the  owner- 
ship of  this  machine  requires  capital  and  since 
capital  is  concentrated  in  relatively  few  hands, 
never  wholly  in  those  of  the  workers,  it  is  the 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      105 

capitalist  who  tends  to  receive  the  extra  earnings 
economically  attributable  to  the  use  of  the 
machine.  The  use  of  machinery  thus  furnishes 
one  of  the  bases  of  capitalism.  It  also  allows 
of  the  great  resulting  increase  in  the  productive- 
ness of  industry, —  a  greater  surplus  above  the 
subsistence  wage  of  the  worker. 

These  effects  are  by  no  means  of  stationary  or 
decreasing  importance,  for  the  introduction  of 
machinery  is  proceeding  at  a  constantly  ac- 
celerating rate.  This  follows  as  a  result  of  the 
application  of  scientific  method  to  invention. 
Such  application  pays  and  is  likely  to  pay  in- 
creasingly in  the  future.  Hence  there  is  no 
reason  to  apprehend  a  diminution  in  the  effects 
now  being  wrought.  So  when  we  point  out  the 
proportion  of  the  product  of  industry  received  by 
the  owner  of  capital,  we  are  pointing  to  a  phe- 
nomenon of  increasing  interest  and  importance. 

Not  only  is  the  use  of  capital  greatly  ex- 
tended by  the  introduction  of  machinery,  but  a 
train  of  consequences  extends  backward,  through 
its  aggravation  of  the  factory  system,  with  the 
division  of  labour  and  forced  cooperation  of  the 
latter,  each  with  the  attendant  ill  effects  already 
discussed. 

1  Thus  cooperation  is  extended  through  the 
multiplication  of  similar  machines.  Specialisa- 
tion is  enormously  stimulated  by  the  nature  of 


106      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  machine  itself.  For  the  nature  of  the 
machine  is  distinctively  to  perform  some  one 
operation  or  set  of  operations.  There  is  no 
variation  in  its  process.  The  effect  on  the 
machine  tender  is  to  produce  the  counterpart  of 
the  machine  —  its  complement.  Moreover  the 
machine  is  run  under  the  direction  of  the  factory 
boss  and  the  factory  thus  enhanced  in  im- 
portance. The  boss  can  to  some  extent  direct 
its  speed:  hence  the  factory  hands  can  be  liter- 
ally speeded  up  by  machinery.  This  is  the 
apotheosis  of  the  factory  system  with  all  its  bale- 
ful effects. 

The  prevalence  as  well  as  the  intensification 
of  the  factory  system  is  increased  by  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  for  several  reasons.  The 
distribution  of  power  is  greatly  facilitated  by 
the  massing  of  the  machines.  The  oversight 
over  valuable  and  often  intricate  machinery  is 
best  accomplished  in  the  factory.  The  housing 
of  the  larger  machinery  requires  a  building 
specially  designed  and  given  up  to  that  use.  The 
fact  that  a  single  machine  often  requires  a 
regimentation  of  workers  inconvenient  or  im- 
possible in  the  household, —  and  in  general  the 
fact  that  it  is  easier  to  bring  the  worker  to  the 
machine  than  the  machine  to  the  worker,  com- 
pels the  adoption  of  the  factory  system. 

We  have  seen  then  that  the  primary  character- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL       107 

istics  of  our  industrial  system;  cooperation, 
division  of  labour,  the  factory  system,  and  the 
introduction  of  machinery,  all  strongly  suggest 
a  socialistic  form  of  management.  We  now  pass 
to  those  material  factors  which  more  impera- 
tively demand  that  the  present  system  be  given 
up  or  greatly  modified.  W!e  may  begin  with  the 
capitalistic  appropriation  of  natural  resources. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  an  outlet  for  the 
exploited  labour  population  is  to  be  found  in  a 
return  to  the  land.  This  is  only  true  if  access 
to  the  land  is  to  be  had  on  nominal  terms. 
Available  land  must  be  defined  as  land  adjacent 
to  markets  or  within  reach  of  them  by  a  carrier. 
But  railroads  can  and  do  charge  "  what  the 
market  will  bear."  This  means  that  the  settler 
even  if  offered  free  land  but  subjected  to  these 
charges,  is  in  anything  but  a  free  economic  posi- 
tion. Moreover  capital  is  required  in  modern 
farming,  besides  that  involved  in  the  purchase 
or  hire  of  the  land  itself.  This  brings  farming 
under  the  category  of  capitalistic  enterprise  and 
effectually  debars  the  non-capitalistic  worker. 
And  while  the  field  is  still  open  to  the  small 
capitalist  it  is  so  only  on  terms  dictated  by  the 
large  capitalist. 

Equality  of  opportunity  can  be  had  under  a 
system  of  private  land  ownership  only  when  all 
are  treated  alike  in  its  apportionment.  It  is 


108      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

obvious  that  this  has  never  been  the  case  in 
America  since  early  colonial  times  if  even  then. 
At  present  even  a  measurable  equality  cannot  be 
had.  Economists  have  obstinately  refused  to 
consider  this  aspect  of  the  system  of  the  private 
ownership  of  land.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
the  possession  of  land  as  a  private  right  does 
strengthen  family  pride  and  stability.  The  same 
might  with  equal  propriety  be  urged  in  favour  of 
slavery. 

But  there  are  a  few  industries  which  require 
little  land  and  comparatively  little  capital. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  various 
forms  of  small  intensive  farming,  poultry  raising, 
etc.  These  must  be  classed  with  home  industries. 
The  sweat  shop  is  their  prototype  in  manufac- 
turing. They  are  inevitably  brought  into  this 
class  by  the  same  causes;  namely,  by  their  de- 
pendence on  the  large  capitalist.  Express  com- 
panies, the  country  merchant,  etc.,  exact  from 
them  a  heavy  toll.  For  the  very  reason  that 
they  are  in  a  measure  open  to  the  man  with  small 
capital  they  feel  the  full  force  of  the  competition 
of  the  vast  army  of  the  unemployed.  And  the 
small  proprietor  is  subject  to  the  same  con- 
sumer's tax  as  the  labourer.  This  phase  of  his 
environment  will  be  discussed  under  capital- 
ism. 

The  entry  into  the  professions  of  large  num- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      109 

bers  of  these  nearly  propertyless  aspirants  for 
success  has  been  a  natural  result  of  the  attempt 
on  their  part  to  escape  from  these  conditions 
and  secure  at  least  a  competence.  Incidentally 
the  professions  have  been  degraded  by  this  ac- 
cession of  those  who  have  chosen  their  vocation 
rather  than  been  chosen  for  it.  Lacking  capital, 
all  sorts  of  efforts  are  made  to  develop  money- 
making  capacity  out  of  innate  ability  or  brain 
capital.  Even  sport  is  commercialised  (not  in- 
deed professionalised).  Any  and  everything 
that  seems  to  promise  a  life  free  from  the  base 
servility  exacted  from  the  employee  of  the  cap- 
italist is  looked  upon  with  favour.  No  matter 
how  unattractive  otherwise,  or  how  normally  de- 
ficient in  pecuniary  reward,  it  is  speedily 
crowded  with  those  who  will  "  work  it  for  all  it 
is  worth."  The  civil  service  lists  are  filled  not- 
withstanding the  low  salaries  and  the  prospect 
of  slow  advancement.  Thus  we  see  the  utter 
impossibility  of  individual  independence  under 
present  economic  conditions.  The  former  op- 
portunities are  rapidly  disappearing. 

It  only  remains  to  view  the  material  affairs 
of  our  civilisation  as  a  whole  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  method  by  which  the  economic  world 
is  ruled  and  material  livelihood  apportioned. 
The  system  prevailing  is  not  a  consciously 
planned  system  but  a  purely  adventitious  out- 


110      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

come  of  the  economic  forces  which  we  have  men- 
tioned. 

All  these  material  forces  then  may  be  seen 
to  culminate  in  capitalism,  the  system  in  which 
industry  is  controlled  by  and  through  capital 
by  an  owner  selected  by  competition  in  ac- 
cumulativeness  or  rather  acquisitiveness.  Ac- 
cording to  this  system  the  control  which  was 
previously  exercised  by  the  feudal  barons  by 
reason  of  their  military  prowess,  and  later  by 
the  nobility  by  virtue  of  their  political  position, 
is  in  these  latter  days  exercised  by  a  hereditary 
body  of  financial  directors  or  owners  who  bear 
sway  by  reason  of  their  wealth.  These  surround 
themselves  with  able  advisors  whose  sole  ambi- 
tion is  to  increase  the  rate  of  returns  on  their 
master's  investments  and  thereby  "  show  re- 
sults." These  returns  are  in  the  form  of  a 
geometric  ratio,  doubling  every  five  to  fifteen 
years.  Thus  their  power  is  ever  increasing 
through  spontaneously  multiplying  possessions. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  with  some  advanced 
thinkers  that  this  waxing  industrial  monarchy 
can  ever  fall  of  its  own  weight,  for  it  automatic- 
ally selects  the  fittest  as  managers,  and  uner- 
ringly weeds  out  incompetents.  Lack  of  judg- 
ment means  losses,  and  if  continued  or  repeated, 
inevitable  failure,  thus  resulting  in  the  displace- 
ment of  misplaced  power.  Hence  only  the  com- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      111 

petent  can  long  remain  in  charge.  As  a  result 
capitalism  maintains  its  directing  ability. 

Nor  is  there  any  sign  that  this  competition 
among  managers  will  fall  away  as  does  that  be- 
tween rival  firms  or  corporations.  Better  inter- 
course between  business  factors  in  modern  times 
allows  instead  of  fiercer  competition  between 
managers.  And  recognition  of  the  better  man- 
ager is  subject  to  the  powerful  pressure  of  greed 
looking  for  gains.  Then  too,  the  economies 
necessary  as  a  result  of  the  competition  of  widely 
separated  competitors  due  to  the  better  trans- 
portation of  products  will  all  the  more  tend  to 
the  elimination  of  the  inefficient  manager. 

Nor  can  any  degeneration  of  the  persons  com- 
posing the  capitalist  class  themselves  ever  re- 
sult disastrously  to  capitalism.  The  class  is 
constantly  recruited  from  the  best  material  to 
be  found  in  the  lower  classes.  There  is  never 
a  lack  of  worthy  claimants  for  these  positions 
of  responsibility  and  privilege.  Classes  do  not 
become  sufficiently  rigid  to  allow  the  dying  out 
of  the  upper  class.  There  seems  then  no  means 
by  which  the  capitalist  system  can  work  its  own 
destruction  except  through  the  voluntary  efforts 
of  those  not  favourable  situated  under  its  re*- 
gime. 

On  its  material  side  capitalism  shows  no 
prospects  of  a  decline.  Its  power  is  inherent  in 


112       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  usefulness  of  capital,  which  is  more  and 
more  an  indispensable  factor  in  production. 
Financing  a  proposition  is  but  securing  the  con- 
sent of  capital  that  the  undertaking  shall  be 
carried  out.  Without  this  consent  no  under- 
taking involving  the  use  of  capital  great  or  small 
can  be  inaugurated,  and  this  consent  can  be 
withheld  indefinitely.  Labour  can  endure  for 
some  time  but  eventually  must  come  to  terms: 
not  so  with  capital,  which  does  not  have  to  capit- 
ulate. This  fact  gives  capital  the  whiphand  over 
labour  and  would  enable  capitalists  to  crush 
labour  completely  were  it  not  for  the  friction 
attending  this  form  of  competition.  It  is 
precisely  the  element  of  slavery  remaining, 
namely  the  necessity  of  replacing  the  discharged 
labourers  with  raw  recruits,  that  allows  to 
labour  the  respite  that  it  enjoys  from  utter  bon- 
dage—  from  utter  economic  degradation. 

Nor  is  the  capitalist  system  of  industry  less 
successful  on  the  side  of  productiveness.  There 
is  a  continual  gain  in  this  respect.  The  periodic 
panics  and  crises  attending  the  competitive  sys- 
tem in  its  less  organised  days,  and  due  to  over- 
production or  rather  to  under  consumption,  are 
likely  to  be  entirely  eliminated,  the  one  by  the 
limiting  of  production,  the  other  by  the  greater 
prodigality  of  the  capitalist  class  itself.  There 
is  little  probability  that  production  in  the  better 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL       113 

organised  industries  will  ever  again  fall  far  be- 
low or  rise  far  above  the  perceived  requirements. 
Industry  is  effectually  controlled  and  regulated 
by  the  trusts.  Science  has  been  successfully  in- 
voked to  the  aid  and  direction  of  productive 
capacity,  and  to  the  effecting  of  desirable  econ- 
omies. Products  and  profits  increase. 

The  characteristics  of  capitalism  are  such  as 
might  be  expected  from  this  account  of  its  nature 
and  functions.  We  have  defined  capitalism  as 
the  organisation  of  society  under  capitalists 
whose  right  to  the  title  has  been  gained  through 
industrial  competition.  This  contest  is  strictly 
between  the  rival  aspirants  for  the  control  of 
capital,  and  not  as  is  commonly  supposed  be- 
tween rival  industrial  concerns.  That  it  ap- 
pears in  the  form  of  a  contest  between  the  latter 
is  but  accidental  and  at  the  same  time  most 
unfortunate  for  the  people  at  large,  as  it  is  ab- 
solutely unexcused  by  any  useful  outcome  what- 
ever. Precisely  as  during  a  war  between  rival 
claimants  to  a  throne,  not  only  are  the  actual 
contestants  involved,  but  the  whole  country  is 
drawn  into  the  struggle.  It  might  indeed  be 
supposed  that  the  struggle  will  redound  to  the 
ultimate  benefit  of  the  country  in  that  the  better 
or  more  warlike  prince  will  be  victorious  and  so 
selected  as  ruler,  but  it  is  extremely  unfortunate 
that  the  munitions  of  war  must  be  so  liberally 


114      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

provided.  Besides,  it  is  plain  that  this  method 
of  "  natural  selection  "  of  capitalists  in  order  to 
assure  the  proper  direction  of  industry  is  ex- 
ceedingly subject  to  interference  by  accidents 
which  considerably  nullify  the  most  efficient 
working  of  the  scheme. 

In  this  "  natural  selection  "  of  capitalists  the 
fittest  is  he  who  happens  upon  the  proper  plan. 
This  does  not  usually  or  at  least  necessarily  im- 
ply any  superior  personal  characteristics.  It  is 
the  supremacy  of  the  particular  business  that  de- 
termines the  supremacy  of  the  particular  capi- 
talist. This  ascendency  of  the  commercial  en- 
terprise itself  depends  more  upon  circumstances 
outside  the  personal  qualities  of  the  capitalist  in 
question  than  upon  his  own  worthiness.  The 
lucky  guess  as  to  the  position  of  ore  lands,  or 
as  to  the  location  of  future  cities,  the  inheritance 
of  wealth,  or  the  quiet  tip  acquired  quite  by  acci- 
dent, etc.,  often  determine  success  or  failure 
quite  as  much  as  personal  excellence.  We  have 
thus  a  very  unjust  mode  of  determining  the  selec- 
tion of  capitalists  as  well  as  a  very  clumsy  mode 
of  exercising  control  over  industry. 

A  general  recognition  of  the  inadequacy  of  this 
method  of  exercising  control  over  industry  is 
gradually  gaining  ground  among  all  classes,  but 
chiefly  as  might  be  expected  among  those  who 
suffer  the  most  hardships  on  account  of  its  fail- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      115 

lire  to  function  well,  namely,  the  workers.  These 
are  fast  becoming  conscious  of  their  position  as 
a  class,  and  there  will  inevitably  follow  a  de- 
mand that  a  more  efficient  system  for  the  con- 
trol of  industry  be  substituted. 

Such  a  system  is  socialism,  which  presents  a 
plan  for  the  direct  control  of  industry  as  op- 
posed to  the  indirect  method  of  capitalism.  For 
where  capitalism  allows  "  natural  selection  "  to 
determine  between  plans  by  eliminating  the  in- 
dividuals identified  with  those  rejected,  socialism 
decides  on  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the 
plans  themselves.  It  is  evident  that  the  method 
of  socialism  is  the  more  humane  as  well  as  the 
more  just  and  efficient. 

Eeserving  further  discussion  of  this  point  to  be 
considered  under  the  Method  of  Socialism  we 
may  note  that  capitalism  while  not  indeed  work- 
ing its  own  downfall  is  still  proceeding  to  assume 
a  form  that  will  eliminate  one  of  its  evils  —  at 
the  expense  of  intensifying  others.  For  under 
capitalism  competition  is  receiving  an  automatic 
check  in  two  forms:  first  that  of  the  labour 
unions,  and  second  that  of  the  trusts.  Consider- 
ing the  deadly  character  of  competition  it  would 
seem  surprising  that  these  spontaneous  combina- 
tions had  not  sprung  up  earlier.  They  had  to 
wait  for  class  consciousness  on  the  one  hand,  and 
for  enlightened  business  interest  on  the  other. 


116      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

Besides  competition  itself  has  not  been  so  severe 
in  the  past  as  at  present  owing  to  various  dis- 
turbing factors.  Among  these  on  the  side  of  cap- 
ital was  the  expense  incident  to  doing  business 
at  a  distance,  the  monopoly  arising  by  the  aid  of 
governmental  or  grafting  politician  politics,  the 
natural  monopoly,  and  the  element  of  personal 
relation.  Added  to  these  or  perhaps  as  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  government  aided  monopoly  is  the 
patent  monopoly.  On  the  side  of  the  workers 
have  always  been  the  sudden  or  unexpected  de- 
mands for  labour  from  various  causes,  such  as 
wars,  natural  destructions,  discoveries  and  in- 
ventions,—  the  latter  sometimes  though  not  usu- 
ally producing  an  increased  demand  more  than 
sufficient  to  offset  the  economies  effected  by  the 
increased  productiveness  of  labour.  And  al- 
though the  labourer  has  actually  at  most  stages 
been  pressed  hard  against  the  limits  of  a  bare 
existence  wage,  the  improvidence  and  inefficiency 
of  the  labourer  of  marginal  utility  has  allowed  a 
slight  surplusage  to  the  average  labourer  over 
the  existence  wage.  Again,  as  we  have  seen,  re- 
sources in  the  form  of  unappropriated  land  have 
usually  in  this  country  until  the  present  held 
out  an  alternative  to  the  hard  pressed  wage 
slave. 

Again  the  supply  of  workers  is  incompletely 
furnished  unless  wages  are  sufficient  to  keep  the 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      117 

marginal  worker  somewhat  efficient.  The 
worker  cannot  be  replaced  without  some  friction 
in  the  readjustment.  Hence  an  employer  who 
disturbed  his  labour  force  too  frequently  would 
find  the  replacing  of  the  discharged  members  to 
be  a  task  greater  than  the  advantage  gained.  It 
is  the  latter  fact  alone  that  allows  the  labourer 
in  the  average  case  any  respite  from  the  down- 
ward urge  of  wages.  Strangely  enough  speciali- 
sation aids  to  precisely  the  extent  to  which  it 
has  induced  departure  from  the  normal  human 
type.  For  the  friction  of  readjustment  is  there- 
by rendered  the  greater.  But  with  the  standard- 
ising of  processes  throughout  all  the  plants  of  a 
particular  industry,  even  this  ceases  to  pro- 
tect. 

Again  among  those  forms  of  industry  employ- 
ing large  amounts  of  fixed  capital  such  as  rail- 
roads, we  have  under  usual  stable  conditions  a 
"gentlemen's  agreement"  corresponding  to  the 
armed  truce  of  nations.  All  fear  the  disastrous 
effects  of  a  "  rate  war,"  and  competition  is  mu- 
tually refrained  from  in  prices  of  transportation. 
It  still  continues  in  quality  of  service,  and  most 
important  of  all  in  conspicuousness  through  ad- 
vertising. It  is  sought  by  the  power  of  sugges- 
tion to  influence  choice.  Friction  again,  this 
time  in  the  form  of  a  lack  of  real  knowledge  on 
the  part  of  at  least  a  portion  of  the  traveling 


118      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

public  and  perhaps  also  a  love  for  variety,  pre- 
vents this  competition  from  working  out  its  log- 
ical result, —  complete  victory  on  the  part  of  one 
road  with  empty  trains  on  all  others.  With  so 
much  friction  it  takes  time  to  undermine  a  com- 
petitor completely,  but  the  logical  outcome  of  all 
forms  of  industry  depending  on  fixed  capital  is 
monopoly. 

The  labourer  standing  before  his  prospective 
employer  presents  another  case  of  fixed  capital. 
In  this  case  the  mature  man  himself  is  the  em- 
bodiment of  capital,  largely  fixed.  In  general  he 
is  good  for  but  one  thing,  work.  He  cannot  be 
reconverted  into  the  raw  material  of  which  he  is 
economically  composed.  He  is  not  transform- 
able into  a  salable  or  consumable  product  of  any 
variety  desired.  Even  his  capacity  as  to  kind 
of  labour  can  be  but  slightly  altered,  the  less  so 
the  more  specialisation  has  proceeded.  His  la- 
bour power  must  be  utilised  in  a  single  definite 
way  if  at  all.  If  the  demand  for  that  particular 
kind  of  labour  power  is  limited,  by  lack  of  raw 
material  or  circulating  capital,  or  even  as  is  usu- 
ally the  case,  by  reason  of  lack  of  initiative  on 
the  part  of  those  who  control  capital,  or  if  his 
labour  power  cannot  be  made  to  render  a  satisfac- 
tory profit  to  the  capitalist, —  we  have  another 
instance  of  competition  among  the  forms  of  fixed 
capital,  and  one  in  which  the  investment  is  pe- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      119 

culiarly  helpless  before  the  competitive  lowering 
of  prices. 

Two  labourers  apply  for  the  same  job.  Each 
must  have  money  as  the  means  of  sustenance. 
What  limits  underbidding?  Each  reflects  that) 
less  money  is  preferable  to  none.  Nowhere  ex- 
cept at  the  point  where  one  is  forced  to  commit 
economic  suicide,  in  desperation  deciding  that 
there  is  practically  no  difference  between  the 
wage  offered  and  nothing  at  all,  does  the  under- 
bidding cease.  Economic  friction  alone  in  the 
majority  of  cases  saves  the  labourer  from  this 
plight.  He  gambles  from  imperfect  knowledge 
that  he  may  be  offered  a  better  paying  position 
to-morrow.  Or  perhaps  custom  is  strong  upon 
him  and  he  is  unable  to  see  the  propriety  of  un- 
derbidding the  usual  wage.  Unorganised  class 
feeling  analogous  to  the  gentleman's  agreement 
of  the  trust,  or  the  professional  sense  of  the  doc- 
tor, may  deter  him  from  underbidding.  Again 
he  may  not  from  lack  of  knowledge  be  even  pres- 
ent to  underbid  the  other  man. 

In  both  these  cases  of  fixed  capital,  that  of  the 
stocked  industry  and  that  of  the  fully  reared  and 
trained  labourer,  the  struggle  is  ended  by  the  in- 
dustrial combination  and  the  trade  union  re- 
spectively, and  the  competition  between  forms 
of  fixed  capital  ceases.  These  organisations  are 
a  necessity  in  order  that  the  naturally  evolving 


120      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

monopoly  may  not  be  altogether  despotic.  It  is 
a  law  of  nature  that  in  the  absence  of  organisa- 
tion subjugation  by  the  strongest  shall  prevail. 
Ultimately  under  natural  conditions  the  will  of 
the  strongest  thus  rules.  The  conflicts  which 
remain  are  only  those  of  the  representative  fac- 
ulty of  his  mind,  and  the  result  is  known  as 
tyranny.  If  this  should  be  fully  evolved  before 
the  advent  of  socialism  we  should  have  in  place 
of  our  industrial  feudalism  an  industrial  mon- 
archy. 

Organised  government  has  refused  to  recog- 
nise the  essentially  social  nature  of  modern  in- 
dustrial affairs.  Hence  it  has  made  no  attempt 
to  control  them  directly.  In  fact,  government 
as  its  name  implies  has  concerned  itself  almost 
exclusively  with  people.  Rarely  has  it  conde- 
scended to  undertake  the  most  necessary  manage- 
ment of  things.  In  this  it  betrays  its  origin  as 
of  the  order  of  slavery.  Perfect  freedom,  per- 
haps for  long  yet  unattainable,  brooks  only  the 
latter.  In  any  case  industrial  affairs  have  long 
cried  loudly  for  social  regulation  and  in  response 
for  that  species  of  industrial  government  which 
properly  belongs  only  to  the  state,  have  arisen 
the  trust  and  the  labour  union.  Each  in  its  pres- 
ent state  is  illogical  as  an  incomplete  and  un- 
related institution.  Each  antagonises  the  other, 
attempting  to  rule  in  practically  the  same 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      121 

sphere,  and  both  come  into  frequent  conflict  with 
the  general  government.  This  conflict  is  par- 
ticularly natural  and  universal  between  the  la- 
bour union  and  the  trust :  so  much  so  that  inas- 
much as  the  former  is  considerably  identical  in 
membership  with  the  larger  exploited  class  and 
is  democratically  organised,  the  conflict  between 
these  two  is  often  confused  with  the  class  conflict 
of  socialism. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  these  organisations  thus 
perform  a  real  service  to  the  public.  Govern- 
ment is  normally  profitable.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  the  barons  performed  a  real  service  in  re- 
storing and  maintaining  order  in  their  limited 
provinces.  For  this  service  they  recouped  them- 
selves by  securing  the  feudal  allegiance  from 
their  subjects  and  serfs.  The  gratitude  of  even 
the  latter  was  not  altogether  mistaken.  Men  are 
usually  willing  to  be  restrained  for  the  common 
good  and  even  to  pay  for  the  restraint. 

A  similar  condition  has  arisen  recently  in  our 
own  land  so  far  as  industry  is  concerned.  Out 
of  the  saving  resulting  from  the  abolition  of  the 
destructive  and  costly  competition  of  the  pre- 
trust  days,  the  trusts  have  earned  and  have  been 
able  to  collect  a  vast  recompense  for  their  serv- 
ices. This  has  been  partially  aside  from  any 
mulcting  of  the  consumer  or  the  real  producer. 
That  they  have  not  hesitated  to  do  this  also 


122      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

whenever  opportunity  afforded  may  be  freely  ad- 
mitted. It  is  but  a  consequence  to  be  reasonably 
expected  of  any  and  every  sort  of  irresponsible 
government. 

But  the  trust  has  arisen  in  response  to  the 
business  man's  immediate  perception  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  socialism.  The  trust  is  the  only  form 
of  socialism  that  can  prevail  in  a  thoroughly  an- 
archistic industrial  society,  for  the  labour  unions 
are  unable,  at  least  thus  far,  to  command  suffi- 
cient power  to  serve  other  than  as  a  mere  party 
of  opposition.  The  trust  is  a  strictly  limited 
socialism,  a  sort  of  feudal  socialism,  autocrat- 
ically administered  and  otherwise  imperfect  be- 
cause unstable  as  to  its  working  force  and  hence 
disregardful  of  their  welfare.  With  a  wise  far- 
seeing  capitalist  at  its  head,  no  remaining  com- 
petition to  restrict  its  benevolent  policies,  and  a 
stable  working  force,  it  is  the  most  tolerable 
form  of  private  capitalism.  It  of  course  sets 
the  prices  of  its  products  at  what  the  market  will 
bear  and  so  limits  its  benefits  to  its  own  em- 
ployees —  and  owners. 

If  complete  trustification  of  all  our  industries 
were  at  once  effected,  we  should  have  a  form  of 
society  which  might  (or  may)  endure  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  and  quite  analogous  to  the  insti- 
tution of  monarchy  in  the  political  realm.  It 
would  be  subject  however  to  the  constant  en- 


FORCES  PRODUCING  SOCIALISM,  MATERIAL      123 

croachments  of  capitalists  from  other  lines  of 
business,  after  the  manner  of  wars  of  territorial 
conquest  among  nations.  That  such  a  state  of 
affairs  will  long  be  tolerated  by  our  workers  is 
unthinkable.  It  seems  more  likely  that  the  de- 
mand for  democratic  management  of  the  trusts 
will  be  rather  prompt.  Democracy  has  had  a 
taste  of  power  in  the  political  field,  and  while 
this  has  mainly  taken  the  form  of  a  preference 
between  rulers,  it  is  increasingly  reaching  out 
for  a  control  of  measures, —  including  those  of 
an  industrial  nature.  Even  if  each  trust  were 
controlled  by  its  workers  democratically  organ- 
ised after  the  pattern  (and  purpose)  of  the  indus- 
trial unions,  the  resulting  socialism  would  still 
J>e  too  partial,  too  local,  and  too  mutually  war- 
ring and  competitive  to  be  a  permanent  form  of 
organisation,  though  such  organisation  might 
well  serve  as  the  local  unit  of  the  cooperative 
commonwealth. 

Capitalism  is  thus  developing  forms  of  organi- 
sation which  will  inevitably  call  more  and  more 
insistently  for  "industrial  democracy."  The 
power  of  the  captains  of  industry  is  becoming  so 
conspicuous  and  this  power  is  questioned  so  bit- 
terly by  the  unions  of  the  workers  that  we  can- 
not believe  that  the  latter  will  much  longer  delay 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  weapons  conferred 
upon  them  by  political  democracy.  This  need 


124      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

imply  no  revolutionary  movement  except  in  so 
far  as  any  overturn  of  long  accepted  govern- 
mental policies  is  revolutionary.  Unlike  most 
European  countries  we  have  the  means  of  indus- 
trial revolution  ready  to  hand  in  our  rather  com- 
plete political  democracy. 

But  it  must  be  revolutionary  in  the  sense  that 
it  substitutes  the  collective  will  in  industry  for 
the  individual  will.  Industrial  management 
must  be  social  rather  than  individual.  In  place 
of  many  unrelated  business  agencies  must  be  the 
one  well-organised  democratically  controlled  co- 
operative commonwealth.  Failing  this  we  shall 
have  a  more  or  less  limited  industrial  monarchy. 
For  disorder  such  as  now  prevails  in  things  in- 
dustrial can  be  put  the  temporary  manifestation 
of  industrial  immaturity. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS 

HAVING  thus  reviewed  the  forces  spiritual  and 
material  which  are  arousing  the  selfconscious- 
ness  of  society  and  spurring  it  on  to  purposeful 
adaptive  activity,  we  have  further  to  inquire  con- 
cerning the  probable  direction  of  the  progress  of 
such  a  society  and  the  means  by  which  social 
control  will  be  exercised.  What  will  be  the  pur- 
poses of  the  selfconscious  society?  We  may  say 
in  general  that  they  will  be  those  analogous  to 
the  purposes  of  the  individual  who  is  endowed 
with  selfc.onsciousness.  In  general  terms  we 
are  accustomed  to  say  that  "  he  realises  his  mis- 
sion." All  his  acts,  before  performed  instinct- 
ively and  automatically,  are  now  reinforced  and 
given  a  finer  direction  by  the  consciousness  of 
ideal  ends  and  the  conscious  adoption  of  appro- 
priate means  and  methods.  He  has  attained  the 
age  of  responsibility.  He  has  a  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil.  His  acts  are  henceforth  charac- 
teristic of  his  personality.  He  is  an  original 
source  of  purposive  creation. 
The  evolution  of  social  selfconsciousness  as- 

125 


126      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

sumes  a  like  progress.  Society  sets  out  to  achieve 
its  mission.  Society  has  indeed  adopted  methods 
heretofore,  but  has  done  so  only  under  the  pres- 
sure of  necessity,  and  they  have  been  merely  such 
as  answered  to  the  exigencies  of  the  moment. 
While  individual  statesmen  have  advocated 
schemes  for  the  promotion  of  national  welfare, 
breeding  and  training  citizenship,  the  citizens 
themselves  have  submitted  to  such  plans,  or  re- 
sisted them,  without  any  clear  knowledge  as  to 
their  purpose  or  their  own  intentions  in  regard 
to  them.  Nor  have  the  methods  themselves  been 
clear.  They  have  ever  been  in  the  nature  of  com- 
promises. The  mere  adoption  of  socialism  on 
the  other  hand  involves  the  voluntary  acceptance 
of  a  whole  series  of  socially  perceived  methods, — 
of  conscious  adaptation. 

Moreover,  this  conscious  adaptation  implies, 
even  necessitates,  the  employment  of  a  certain 
sort  of  means  —  means  other  than  a  blind  reli- 
ance on  the  working  out  of  unknown  natural 
laws  —  means  that  shall  allow  of  the  direct  ex- 
pression of  conscious  purpose  and  plan.  Such 
means  will  differ  from  those  now  unconsciously 
employed  chiefly  by  the  advance  from  the  un- 
heeding reliance  upon  natural  processes  to  the 
intelligent  mastery  and  utilisation  of  those  forces 
which  have  hitherto  borne  unseeing  rule.  The 
means  employed  will  not  necessarily  displace  en- 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  127 

tirely  those  naturally  in  force,  but  will  be 
adopted  in  each  instance  after  due  consideration 
of  the  improvement  possible.  In  those  cases 
where  the  means  naturally  in  force  are  retained 
the  government  must  criticise  each  application 
of  them  and  stand  by  to  control  or  limit  their 
action.  In  so  far  as  man's  plans  are  fully 
worked  out,  they  will  fully  displace  the  control 
of  nature  so  far  as  such  a  change  can  be  effected. 

But  more  than  all  else  he  will  adopt  definite 
guiding  principles  in  response  to  the  appeal  of 
ideals,  in  place  of  the  aimlessness  of  the  mere 
instinctive  desire  to  live  which  has  characterised 
his  socially  subconscious  period.  His  ideals  for 
the  just  society  will  seek  not  altogether  unavail- 
ingly  for  concrete  expression.  So  much  of 
Utopia  as  the  state  of  advancement  of  human 
capacity  will  permit  will  be  realised.  Ideals 
which  have  hitherto  served  as  guides  to  individ- 
ual action  for  generations  are  thus  in  a  position 
to  be  somewhat  tardily  adopted  with  reference 
to  society. 

There  is  absolutely  no  deterrent  and  every  in- 
ducement to  the  citizens  of  the  socialist  common- 
wealth to  devise  such  a  system  of  production  and 
distribution  as  shall  be  thus  truly  ideal  in  its 
educational  effects.  More  or  less  obscured,  but 
pervading  every  socialist  manifesto  and  platform, 
is  the  declaration  of  the  purpose  to  ultilise  every 


128      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

available  means  to  evolve  a  higher  type  of  man 
than  has  yet  existed,  and  to  educate  every  indi- 
vidual man  to  the  highest  state  of  which  he  is 
capable.  To  say  that  a  democratically  organised 
community  could  fail  in  this  regard  is  to  deny 
the  success  and  wisdom  of  the  principle  of  de- 
mocracy itself. 

Man  will  thus  become  surrounded  with  a  pur- 
poseful environment.  This  calculated  purpose- 
ful environment  supersedes  the  compelling  force- 
ful environment  of  nature  which  has  hitherto 
enslaved  submissive  mankind.  Man  has  not 
hitherto  been  free  even  to  that  extent  which  is 
attainable  by  concerted  social  action.  But  self- 
conscious  society  is  able  to  attain  a  sort  of  social 
personality,  through  a  public  spirit  which  can 
even  now  be  discerned  as  characteristic  of  the 
best  communities.  As  the  individual  has  been 
able  to  improve  his  condition  through  voluntary 
choice,  so  society  within  practicable  limits  estab- 
lishes ?  voluntary  social  environment,  and  the 
social  structure  begins  to  bear  the  imprint  of 
conscious  social  devisings.  As  the  individual  be- 
comes in  a  measure  self  sufficient  and  self  sur- 
rounded, so  does  society  achieve  a  like  triumph 
of  inner  personality. 

Thus  socialism  is  the  reaction  of  society  upon 
its  own  institutions.  The  institutions  mould  so- 
ciety and  society  proceeds  to  remake  the  institu- 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  129 

tions.  Institutions  have  hitherto  been  a  growth 
undirected  except  by  the  logic  of  events,  the  same 
that  will  still  intrude  into  the  beginnings  of  so- 
cialism; but  when  socialism  shall  have  become 
fully  developed,  the  institutional  life  of  society 
will  have  become  fully  directed.  In  a  certain 
sense  all  constructive  statesmanship  is  thus  di- 
rective. We  must  merely  note  that  the  directive 
agents  are  hitherto  pursuing  purely  personal  and 
narrow  ends  or  at  most  that  they  do  not  repre- 
sent society  in  any  adequate  sense.  Society  is 
not  directing  itself.  It  is  perhaps  being  directed 
consciously,  but  not  with  any  generally  con- 
ceived conscious  purpose.  Its  directors  are 
themselves  chosen  by  chance,  or  at  most  by  a  sys- 
tem which  has  in  it  a  large  element  of  chance  as 
has  been  shown,  and  their  control  where  real  is 
at  best  a  most  indirect  and  inaccurate  expression 
of  popular  will. 

The  socialist  state  will  be  a  cooperative  com- 
monwealth, embodying  the  collective  sense  and 
power  of  its  citizens  directed  toward  their  eman- 
cipation from  the  thralldom  to  the  industrial 
tyranny  of  which  we  have  seen  the  rationale. 
For  along  with  the  change  in  the  control  of  in- 
dustry goes  a  change  in  the  motives  of  those  who 
are  in  control.  This  has  often  been  stated  by 
socialists  as  "  production  for  use,  not  for  profit." 
It  is  more  than  this ;  it  is  production  for  the  pro- 


130      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

ducer,  not  for  the  product.  In  other  words,  the 
incentive  to  those  who  are  in  control  of  industry 
to  so  direct  the  work  that  the  output  will  be  en- 
hanced at  the  expense  of  the  worker,  will  be 
eliminated.  The  extraordinary  result  of  this 
change  of  emphasis  is  that  for  the  first  time  the 
worker  will  become  of  primary  significance, — 
the  effect  of  industry  on  him  takes  precedence 
over  any  consideration  of  quantity  or  quality  of 
product. 

Even  here  the  enhancement  of  the  educational 
content  of  the  socialist  movement  is  not  fully 
seen.  Its  full  influence  is  not  entirely  measured 
by  this  fundamental  change  in  the  nature  of  the 
occupation  of  each  citizen.  For  not  only  is  the 
production  of  wealth  under  the  control  of  the 
workers  under  socialism,  but  its  disposition  also 
is  in  their  hands.  And  from  this  united  control 
of  production  and  distribution  arises  a  vast  op- 
portunity to  create  a  set  of  conditions  which  shall 
vitally  react  on  the  character  and  conduct  of 
man.  It  has  often  been  charged  by  critics, 
within  as  well  as  without  the  socialist  move- 
ment, that  socialism  will  require  a  changed  hu- 
man nature.  It  seems  fairly  probable  that  the 
converse  will  prove  true.  Socialism  will  change 
human  nature, —  at  least  so  far  as  a  different  and 
calculated  environment  can  accomplish  that  de- 
sirable effect.  For  its  fundamental  characteris- 


SOCIAL  C6NTROL,  MEANS  131 

tic,  as  we  have  seen,  is  to  surround  humanity 
with  a  set  of  artificial  conditions  replacing  those 
of  an  unreasoned  naturally  evolved  civilisation, 
much  as  the  planned  and  chosen  influences  of  the 
school  replace  the  lawless  but  highly  natural  en- 
vironment of  the  street  or  forest  playground. 
We  may  look  for  the  setting  up  by  socialism  of 
an  artificially  created  environment,  designed  so 
far  as  the  wisdom  and  accomplishments  of  so- 
ciety shall  dictate,  to  consist  of  just  those  condi- 
tions which  will  allow  the  individual  to  enjoy 
life,  and  to  work  out  the  perfect  development  of 
his  own  individuality. 

All  these  influences  thus  calculated  to  effect 
a  desirable  change  in  human  nature,  or  rather 
in  its  manifestations,  may  be  grouped  together 
and  rightly  denominated  educational  influences. 
For  the  essential  procedure  in  every  attempt  to 
educate  consists  in  bringing  to  bear  on  the  indi- 
vidual the  influences  of  an  environment  arti- 
ficially fashioned,  in  which  it  is  hoped  that  the  de- 
sired development  will  work  out.  Socialism  pro- 
poses to  do  this  in  the  large,  not  merely  with 
children  in  the  calculated  environment  of  the 
school,  but  with  all  persons  in  the  quite  as  well 
calculated  environment  of  the  socialist  state. 
Socialism  is  the  apotheosis  of  public  education. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  socialist  society  would  be 
adjusted  as  a  setting  or  background  for  a  more 


132      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

profound  individualism  than  can  possibly  exist 
without  this  socialism,  its  complement.  Not  in- 
dividualism in  the  whole  sphere  of  human  affairs, 
irrespective  of  their  nature ;  but  individualism  in 
matters  of  purely  personal  concern,  socialism  in 
those  of  social  concern.  There  is  no  antagonism, 
simply  a  correlation.  Taken  in  their  broadest 
meaning  there  are  two  factors  in  human  affairs 
not  thus  purely  individual,  and  hence  falling 
properly  within  the  sphere  of  socialist  manage- 
ment. These  are  education  and  evolution. 
While  education  is  not  as  fundamental  as  hu- 
man evolution,  or  eugenics,  it  is  no  less  a  neces- 
sary element  in  the  ideal  civilisation,  for  no  mat- 
ter how  much  the  race  were  improved,  if  the  in- 
dividual were  not  treated  as  an  end  in  himself 
no  real  benefit  to  humanity  could  be  felt.  We 
may  consider  education  first  then  somewhat  more 
in  detail,  as  the  better  perceived  and  more  com- 
monly sought  for  object  of  socialism. 

Education  may  be  more  narrowly  defined  from 
the  sociological  point  of  view  as  the  development 
of  the  individual  by  means  of  exercises  and  in- 
fluences devised  to  effect  that  result.  We  should 
note  that  this  development  requires  the  coopera- 
tion of  factors  outside  the  individual's  own  self- 
activity.  Education  may  indeed  be  due  to  the 
existence  of  conditions  planned  previously  by  the 
individual  himself  to  constitute  such  factors,  but 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  133 

in  the  majority  of  instances  it  will  as  a  matter 
of  fact  result  from  those  planned  and  regulated 
by  another  and  presumably  wiser  agency.  In 
any  case  education  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
sociologist  is  due  to  environment  rather  than  to 
self-activity,  for  the  latter  is  a  constant  factor 
or  at  least  is  not  subject  to  external  influences, 
such  as  are  invariably  implied  in  every  attempt 
to  provide  educational  opportunities. 

In  primitive  times  we  may  presume  that  all 
education  was  accidental,  due  to  the  influence  of 
adventitious  surroundings.  It  was  natural  edu- 
cation as  distinguished  from  consciously  planned 
education,  or  education  proper.  It  was  thus  due 
solely  to  natural  environment.  This  environ- 
ment we  should  note  consists  of  all  those  circum- 
stances both  material  and  spiritual  with  which 
the  individual  happens  to  be  surrounded  as  a 
result  of  the  social  structure  prevailing  at  the 
time.  Socialism  as  we  have  seen  proposes  to 
organise  and  adapt  this  environment  in  order  to 
be  assured  that  it  shall  be  in  accordance  with  the 
needs  of  the  expanding  ego  of  each  individual. 
Otherwise  it  can  have  but  an  accidental  relation 
to  his  needs,  and  may  or  may  not  correspond  to 
them,  the  chances  being  practically  infinite  that 
it  will  not. 

But  not  only  in  the  remote  past  but  in  much 
more  recent  times  do  we  find  that  each  individual 


134.      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

is  born  into  a  natural  environment  which  has  not 
to  any  measurable  degree  been  prepared  for  his 
reception.  It  is  still  largely  a  random  education 
that  he  receives,  but  it  has  never  at  any  time 
been  altogether  so.  For  a  mother  has  always 
in  a  measure  anticipated  the  needs  of  every  hu- 
man infant,  and  thus  somewhat  rectified  the  un- 
providential  neglect  of  nature.  But  the  mother's 
powers  in  this  direction  even  when  supplemented 
by  the  efforts  of  the  father  are  sadly  limited  in 
their  scope,  being  able  to  furnish  educational  op- 
portunities of  only  the  most  immediately  practi- 
cal kind,  and  merely  such  as  will  suffice  to  allow 
the  development  of  the  naturally  dominant  in- 
stincts. Unforeseeing  nature  still  enters  as  the 
main  agent  of  education,  training  the  savage 
throughout  his  short  but  eventful  life,  and  usu- 
ally discarding  him  at  an  early  stage  in  his  po- 
tential career  in  favour  of  his  successor. 

Even  in  modern  so-called  civilised  society  na- 
ture still  provides  the  great  mass  of  educative 
situations,  and  hence  education  is  still  in  a  hap- 
hazard condition.  For  we  may  easily  perceive 
that  the  exercises  provided  by  the  demands  of 
modern  industry  are  not  infrequently  exactly  op- 
posed to  the  educational  requirements  of  the 
worker,  and  indeed  that  they  are  often  even  less 
well  adapted  to  his  needs  than  were  those  of 
more  primitive  times.  On  the  contrary  the  hab- 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  135 

its  induced  by  the  vocation  of  the  modern  arti- 
san, for  instance,  are  such  as  to  make  him  be- 
come conservative  but  unprogressive  in  his  man- 
ner of  thought  and  action.  At  least  when  com- 
pared with  the  initiative  and  rapid  decision  re- 
quired in  the  earlier  times  of  warfare  and  ad- 
venture, his  life  is  quite  tame  —  and  quite  tam- 
ing in  its  effects  upon  his  character. 

In  the  later  days  when  commerce  absorbed  the 
chief  attention  of  the  newly  developed  merchant 
class,  a  wholly  different  emphasis  was  placed 
upon  the  qualities  called  into  play  as  a  result  of 
the  substitution  of  competition  for  warfare.  The 
practice  of  deceit,  for  example,  is  now  tempered 
with  that  measure  of  honesty  which  is  the  best 
policy.  Still  it  is  the  continued  exercise  of  vari- 
ous forms  of  deceit  which  give  rise  to  the  busi- 
ness maxim  of  caveat  emptor.  When  special- 
ised industry  itself  arises  and  the  industrial  rev- 
olution has  given  birth  to  the  modern  industrial 
state,  still  other  qualities  almost  innumerable  in 
number  and  infinite  in  variety  are  demanded,  but 
only  as  required  for  the  needs  of  industry  rather 
than  for  the  needs  of  man.  Throughout  all  these 
phases  of  natural  education  may  be  noted  the  one 
ever  present  defect,  that  each  character  testing 
influence  or  "  temptation  "  is  purely  accidental 
and  its  educational  effect  therefore  fortuitous. 

But  it  may  be  suggested  that  this  fortuitous 


136      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

influence  is  on  the  whole  as  good  as  any  that 
could  possibly  be  devised  by  the  calculations  of 
those  who  would  establish  the  ideal  environment. 
If  this  be  indeed  so  then  the  proper  course  for  a 
civilised  community  is  to  revert  back  entirely  to 
purely  natural  conditions.  Education  would 
then  be  most  effective  if  we  should  close  our 
schools,  repeal  our  laws  against  moral  nuisances, 
and  even  do  away  with  government  altogether  as 
an  artificial  hindrance  to  the  perfect  working 
of  a  purely  natural  environment.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  effort  of  all  civilised  communities  is 
to  multiply  such  artificial  agencies  and  institu- 
tions, and  even  to  bring  the  operations  of  indus- 
try, commerce,  etc.,  more  and  more  under  the 
sway  of  the  government,  thus  achieving  in  a 
measure  the  educational  advantages  of  socialism 
through  indirect  and  awkward  means.  The  edu- 
cational aim  of  socialism  is  merely  to  hasten  this 
assumption  of  social  control  of  environment 
through  the  adoption  of  direct  and  efficient 
means. 

Under  socialism  then  the  control  of  environ- 
ment becomes  one  of  the  two  general  means  of 
the  direction  of  the  further  progress  of  civilisa- 
tion. The  social  ownership  and  operation  of  the 
means  of  production  for  the  equitable  good  of  all 
thus  furnishes  the  basis  for  a  general  application 
of  the  dictates  of  educational  policy  to  all  the 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  137 

situations  arising  in  productive  industry.  It  is 
true  that  production  requires  labour,  but  it  may 
be  denied  that  this  labour  is  necessarily  stunting 
or  degrading  and  hence  uneducative.  On  the 
contrary  it  involves  the  employment  of  bodies 
and  brains  for  just  such  productive  effort  as  the 
similar  necessity  of  production  of  past  ages  has 
evolved  them  to  perform.  The  amount  of  labour 
necessary  to  maintain  all  in  the  state  of  highest 
happiness  and  efficiency  is  probably  far  below 
that  amount  which  if  equitably  distributed  would 
be  felt  by  any  as  a  burden.  In  fact,  the  civilised 
world  has  probably  achieved  the  means  of  libera- 
tion from  a  pain  economy  and  is  doubtless  quite 
able  if  so  disposed  to  put  into  operation  at  once 
the  pleasure  economy  which  is  destined  ulti- 
mately to  displace  it. 

We  must  not  make  the  very  common  mistake 
of  supposing  that  it  is  merely  the  material  en- 
vironment which  would  thus  be  under  the  control 
of  the  socialist  state.  The  spiritual  environment 
could  not  fail  to  reflect  this  change  in  material 
affairs.  It  is  unthinkable  that  the  establish- 
ment of  production  for  use  in  place  of  produc- 
tion for  profit  should  not  make  entirely  new  and 
quite  preferable  demands  upon  the  moral  quali- 
ties of  the  producer.  The  injunction,  "  Lead  us 
not  into  temptation,"  seems  likely  of  fulfilment 
when  the  socialist  society  arrives  to  adjust  the 


138      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

requirements  of  the  material  environment  to  the 
moral  needs  of  the  individual. 

Moreover,  it  is  not  alone  through  the  agency 
of  a  changed  material  environment  that  spiritual 
influences  will  be  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  the  in- 
dividual. As  we  shall  see,  the  method  of  social- 
ism is  such  that  emphasis  is  constantly  being 
placed  on  the  appeal  to  those  faculties  that  are 
concerned  with  the  cooperative  and  hence  essen- 
tially altruistic  life,  rather  than  as  at  present 
upon  those  egoistic  faculties  that  are  chiefly 
called  into  play  in  the  competitive  life.  For 
since  competition  is  to  be  replaced  by  decision  as 
the  method  of  determining  the  conduct  of  society, 
the  very  method  of  appeal  cannot  but  give  rise  to 
continual  "  campaigns  of  education." 

In  these  verbal  contests  which  thus  replace 
both  warfare  and  competition  and  which  lead 
to  the  adoption  of  those  ideas  which  are  recog- 
nised by  society  as  the  best,  it  can  readily  be  seen 
that  it  is  the  voice  of  the  scholar  that  will  be 
heard  furthest  and  oftenest.  This  is  far  from 
being  the  case  at  present,  for  on  account  of  the 
fact  that  the  results  of  scholarly  speculation  are 
usually  under  present  conditions,  of  more  theo- 
retical than  practical  value,  the  philosopher  has 
seldom  received  sufficient  reward  to  furnish  him 
the  opportunity  to  pursue  his  researches  and 
speculations  to  their  proper  conclusion,  or  even 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  139 

to  publish  adequately  those  results  of  importance 
which  he  is  able  to  reach.  Thus  the  organisation 
and  interpretation  of  knowledge  lags,  and  worse 
yet  the  thinker  is  discouraged,  being  denied  the 
mere  opportunity  of  thinking  for  its  own  sake. 
His  pride  of  intellect  is  consequently  weakened 
and  he  remains  a  prey  to  superstition  along  with 
his  less  enlightened  fellows.  Mankind  has  not 
received  enlightenment  on  many  subjects  for  the 
simple  reason  that  no  business  interest  has  con- 
sidered it  sufficiently  profitable  to  provide  for 
his  liberal  education,  even  when  such  enlighten- 
ment is  not  actually  opposed  by  them  in  the  name 
of  theology.  There  is  danger  that  even  the 
public  schools  and  the  colleges  will  here  and 
there  be  taught  to  maintain  a  discreet  silence  on 
scientific  conclusions  of  the  utmost  importance, 
at  the  behest  of  the  representatives  of  a  very  real 
materialism. 

Moreover  the  scholar's  pride  in  the  excellence 
and  standing  of  his  intellectual  achievement  must 
now  be  maintained  in  the  face  of  a  pride  of 
material  wealth  from  which  he  must  realise  that 
he  is  forever  cut  off.  And  while  he  may  decry 
the  pride  of  material  wealth,  he  cannot  but  ac- 
knowledge its  superior  advantages  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  culture  and  refinement :  in  short  for 
the  furthering  of  those  very  forms  of  self-develop- 
ment which  he  alone  can  best  appreciate. 


140      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

Furthermore,  he  cannot  but  regard  with  concern 
the  extent  of  the  power  of  leadership  which 
wealth  now  confers,  and  the  feebleness  of  his  own 
attempts  in  comparison. 

The  deadening  influence  of  the  eternal  ques- 
tion of  a  purely  commercialised  civilisation, 
"  Will  it  pay?  "  is  felt  by  every  scientist  and 
philosopher  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  Socialism  would  free  the  investi- 
gator and  the  scholar  from  this  humiliation  and 
set  him  in  the  front  rank  of  leadership.  It 
would  enable  him  to  associate  with  his  fellows 
in  semi-public  bureaus  of  research  and  specula- 
tion, to  his  own  great  delight  and  the  profit  of 
society.  Class  work  in  school  is  a  feeble  ex- 
ample of  the  educational  effects  of  associated 
study.  Better  instances  are  the  schools  of  lit- 
erature springing  up  about  various  centres,  such 
as  that  of  the  Lake  District  of  England  or 
that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Boston  a  century 
ago.  WLat  this  associated  activity  in  intellec- 
tual pursuits  might  become  among  a  whole  peo- 
ple unhampered  by  pressing  material  necessities 
can  only  be  fully  guessed  when  we  come  to  con- 
sider how  this  natural  tendency  to  intellectual 
rivalry  will  be  reinforced  by  the  method  of  social- 
ism. As  we  shall  see,  this  method  —  the  method 
by  which  control  will  be  exercised  —  will  be 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  141 

wholly  favourable  to  the  influence,  and  encourag- 
ing to  the  efforts  of  the  scholar. 

Moreover  under  socialism  much  of  the  motive 
now  urging  to  the  anti-social  modes  of  conduct 
would  be  eliminated.  The  altruistic  spirit  would 
undoubtedly  be  rapidly  acquired  by  man  were  it 
not  for  the  egoistic  forces  of  economic  competi- 
tion forever  assailing  him.  Hence  socialism  has 
but  to  remove  the  adverse  influences  which  have 
been  accumulating  under  the  present  system  to 
allow  for  a  great  expansion  in  the  growth  of 
altruism.  So  far  is  socialism  from  requiring  a 
changed  human  nature  that  it  is  probably  the 
only  scientific  attempt  to  utilise  human  nature 
as  it  is.  And  it  would  be  more  proper  to  say 
that  socialism  will  change  human  nature,  at  least 
so  far  as  an  entire  change  in  the  motives  govern- 
ing the  commercial  relations  of  men  could  effect 
that  desirable  result.  Under  the  present  system 
progress  in  this  direction  has  been  squarely  op- 
posed by  all  the  influences  that  an  unrestricted 
appeal  to  individual  selfishness  can  bring  to  bear. 
Our  present  science  of  economics  is  entirely 
justified  in  attributing  none  but  consistently 
selfish  motives  to  the  "  economic  man "  in  his 
business  relations.  The  statement  that  the 
socialist  state  is  materialistic  as  compared  with 
the  present  state  in  this  sense  is  impossibly  ab- 


142       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

surd.  That  it  will  afford  a  better  opportunity 
for  the  advance  in  all  forms  of  mental  culture, 
including  the  development  of  personal  integrity, 
follows  from  the  fact  that  it  affords  the  average 
individual  the  opportunity  to  adjust  industry  to 
his  own  needs.  The  advocates  of  the  interests 
of  educational  policy  could  not  ask  for  more  in 
the  conduct  of  industry. 

This  becomes  only  the  more  increasingly 
evident  as  we  consider  the  possibilities  open  to 
the  socialist  state  in  the  distribution  of  the  pro- 
duct. This  can  be  set  down  as  nothing  less  than 
the  ultimate  educational  ideal,  "  to  each  accord- 
ing to  his  needs."  This  ideal  is  even  now  in- 
creasingly realised  in  the  so-called  socialistic 
activities  of  the  modern  state.  For  each  ex- 
tension of  "  state  welfare  work  "  such  as  the  es- 
tablishment and  maintenance  of  public  schools, 
parks,  free  hospitals,  etc.,  is  but  the  progressive 
application  of  the  principle  which  lies  at  the  very 
core  of  p.  11  educational  endeavour. 

Then  with  the  public  schools  free  to  direct 
their  aim  toward  teaching  how  to  live  rather  than 
toward  how  to  get  a  living,  as  so  invariably  to- 
day, the  increase  in  real  education  as  distin- 
guished from  mere  training  can  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce what  must  needs  appear  to  be  indeed  a 
changed  human  nature.  When  we  contemplate 
the  narrowness  of  previous  aims  of  the  school, 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  143 

as  for  instance  the  demand  in  early  colonial 
times  that  the  child  be  taught  reading  in  order 
that  he  might  be  able  to  read  the  Bible,  or  as 
in  more  modern  times  that  he  be  taught  lan- 
guages in  order  that  he  may  display  a  learning 
which  will  serve  as  a  mark  of  class  distinction, 
we  are  led  to  anticipate  a  very  considerable  in- 
crease in  the  efficiency  of  school  education  alone. 

In  short,  socialism  means  the  emancipation  of 
education  from  the  requirements  of  a  competitive 
civilisation.  Education,  the  conscious  attempt 
to  improve  the  individual,  becomes  free  to  re- 
spond to  the  dictates  of  the  ideals  achieved 
through  the  selfconsciousness  of  the  race.  This 
highly  satisfactory  consummation  can  be  realised 
only  through  socialism,  for  competitive  industry 
requires  the  subordination  of  the  learner  to  the 
task,  of  the  school  to  the  factory,  of  the  nation 
to  the  greed  of  gain.  The  practical  demands  of 
competitive  industry  can  never  be  reconciled  with 
the  actual  needs  of  each  developing  individual. 
In  so  far  as  such  needs  were  perceived  by  the 
citizenship  of  the  cooperative  commonwealth, 
they  could  not  fail  to  receive  every  bit  of  con- 
sideration that  would  be  allowed  by  the  condi- 
tions of  industrial  progress.  They  would  con- 
stitute a  first  mortgage  upon  the  surplus  value 
of  the  production  of  society. 

But  more  fundamental  than  education,  which 


144      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

we  have  thus  seen  can  be  satisfied  only  under 
socialism,  and  more  far  reaching  because  of 
permanent  causal  relation  to  all  ages,  is  the  ques- 
tion of  evolution.  How  would  evolution  fare 
under  socialism?  Would  socialism  result  as  has 
been  claimed  in  a  universal  panmixia?  The  very- 
first  discovery  in  regard  to  evolution  considered 
from  the  sociological  point  of  view  is  portentous. 
It  is  that  evolution  is  not  an  individual  but  a 
social  concern. 

The  individual's  part  in  the  affairs  of  this 
world  is  but  brief  and  transitory  in  comparison 
with  the  time  required  for  evolutionary  pro- 
cesses to  work  out.  The  individual  as  such  can- 
not possibly  have  the  keen  positive  interest  in 
evolution  that  he  is  likely  to  have  in  education, 
owing  to  the  comparatively  short  length  of  time 
required  for  the  fruition  of  the  benefits  of  the 
latter.  On  the  other  hand,  evolution  is  the  more 
fundamental  and  necessary  to  the  welfare  of 
society.  It  furnishes  the  very  basis  of  society, 
the  raw  material  out  of  which  education  fashions 
the  citizen  of  the  civilised  state.  A  splendid 
race  of  men  could  be  brought  into  being  through 
its  operations  alone,  though  not  of  course  a  splen- 
did civilisation,  for  the  latter  is  the  result  of  the 
cooperation  of  evolution  and  education,  aided 
it  may  be  by  the  voluntary  efforts  of  exception- 
ally inspired  individuals. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  145 

But  evolution  takes  time,  much  time.  It  is 
the  one  human  concern  of  importance  which  is 
not  of  concern  to  any  individual  man,  except  as 
he  identifies  himself  with  the  race  of  which  he  is 
a  member.  Individual  initiative  in  race  im- 
provement, or  eugenics,  is  ridiculous ;  it  has  even 
proved  insufficient  in  education. 

But  it  may  be  objected  that  the  individual  does 
indeed  care  about  his  own  immediate  descend- 
ants, and  so  individually  provides  for  the  future 
excellence  of  the  race.  On  the  contrary  it  is 
doubtful  if  consideration  for  the  future  good  of 
society  has  ever  caused  a  single  child  more  or 
less  to  be  born.  At  any  rate  one  cannot  discover 
on  looking  about  that  pride  of  family  has  any 
appreciable  influence  on  the  number  of  offspring. 
Other  considerations  prevail  than  this  of  so  pri- 
mary importance  to  the  race.  If  there  is  one 
duty  to  society  of  which  the  average  citizen  is 
totally  regardless  it  is  this. 

This  must  necessarily  remain  true  so  long  as 
society  takes  no  active  steps  to  protect  her  own 
interests.  Under  the  competitive  system  it  is 
rather  to  the  interest  of  the  individual  and  his 
own  immediate  descendants  that  the  remainder 
of  the  future  society  should  not  be  too  efficient, 
or  in  other  words  too  well  born.  It  is  the  indi- 
vidual against  the  field.  His  chances  are  some- 
what better  if  the  field  is  not  too  fast.  Hence 


146      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

if  the  parent  reasons  at  all,  his  reflections  will  not 
lead  him  to  the  proper  conduct  for  race  improve- 
ment. Here  the  principle  that  individual  selfish 
action  results  in  the  general  welfare  —  that  the 
individual  in  benefiting  himself  benefits  society 
—  breaks  down  altogether.  For  the  individual 
cannot  if  he  would  improve  the  quality  of  his 
offspring  in  the  slightest  degree ;  and  to  increase 
their  quantity  merely  decreases  the  opportunities 
of  each.  What  he  can  do  he  has  no  motive  to  do : 
what  he  cannot  do  he  might  have  a  motive  to  do. 
The  race  cannot  look  for  improvement  on  the 
basis  of  selfish  individual  exertions. 

Natural  selection  alone  is  responsible  for  all 
former  progress  in  race  improvement.  But  as 
we  have  seen,  the  rise  of  humanitarianism  has 
operated  to  reduce  and  all  but  nullify  this 
natural  elimination  of  the  unfit.  It  requires  no 
proof  to  demonstrate  that  the  peoples  of  all  civil- 
ised countries  are  being  chiefly  recruited  from 
those  commonly  taken  to  be  the  unfit.  Civilisa- 
tion is  indeed  "  a  diseased  condition  of  society  " 
from  this  point  of  view.  Says  Saleeby  in  Parent- 
hood and  Race  Culture,  "  We  civilised  men  .  .  . 
do  our  utmost  to  check  the  progress  of  elimina- 
tion :  we  build  asylums  for  the  imbecile,  and  the 
maim  and  the  sick :  we  institute  poor  laws :  and 
our  medical  men  exert  their  utmost  skill  to  save 
the  life  of  everyone  to  the  last  moment.  .  .  . 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  147 

Thus  the  weak  members  of  civilised  society  pro- 
pagate their  kind.7' 12  We  may  even  point  out 
in  confirmation  of  this  indictment,  that  every 
civilisation  thus  far  accomplished  has  perished 
through  internal  weakness,  undoubtedly  due  in 
large  measure  to  racial  deterioration. 

Having  gone  so  far  as  to  provide  for  the  sur- 
vival of  the  unfit,  society  must  take  the  further 
step  of  "  the  social  control  of  human  evolution." 
To  do  less  is  to  be  subject  to  certain  disaster 
as  a  race.  For  it  is  not  only  that  our  own  par- 
ticular conditions  thus  negatively  allow  degene- 
ration, they  even  encourage  it  in  a  positive  way. 
Says  Saleeby  again,  "  Finally  there  occurs  the 
phenomenon  of  reversed  selection,  when  it  is  fit- 
ter to  be  bad  than  good,  cowardly  than  brave, — 
.when  healthy  children  are  killed  in  factories 
whilst  feeble-minded  children  or  deaf-mutes  are 
carefully  tended  until  maturity  and  then  sent 
into  the  world  to  reproduce  their  maladies."  13 
This  is  the  most  severe  indictment  that  could 
conceivably  be  brought  against  any  social  system 
from  the  standpoint  of  evolutionary  science. 
That  its  truth  and  applicability  to  our  own  is 
constantly  becoming  greater  with  every  advance 
in  modern  scientific  methods  must  be  apparent 
to  every  observer. 

Regarding  the  seriousness  of  the  charge  we  can 

12  p.  171.  13  p.  264. 


148      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

t 

only  quote  further  from  Saleeby :  "  If  society 
be  so  organised  that  there  are  factors  of  more 
survival  value  than  the  disinterested  search  for 
truth,  or  mother  love,  or  the  power  to  create 
great  poetry  or  music  —  then,  according  to  the 
inevitable  and  universal  law  of  the  survival  of 
the  fittest,  our  parasites  will  oust  our  poets,  and 
our  poisoners  our  philosophers.  There  are  those 
who  live  in  society  today  and  reproduce  their 
like  by  virtue  of  their  tenacious  hooks  and 
voracious  stomachs."  14  "  The  business  of  eugen- 
ics or  race  culture  is  to  create  an  environment 
such  that  the  human  characters  of  which  the 
human  spirit  approves  shall  in  it  outweigh  those 
of  which  we  disapprove."  15  Here  we  have  the 
manifest  duty  of  society  stated  in  unmistakable 
terms  from  the  standpoint  of  the  eugenist.  For 
it  surely  cannot  be  claimed  that  the  environment 
is  to  any  extent  worth  mentioning  within  the 
control  of  the  individual,  while  as  we  have  seen 
at  length  it  is  to  a  very  considerable  extent 
within  the  control  of  society. 

In  one  respect  only  could  it  be  hoped  that 
the  selfish  impulses  of  the  individual  would  work 
for  the  improvement  of  the  race.  It  is  possible 
that  sexual  selection  by  choosing  the  best  as 
mates  might  result  in  the  improvement  of  parent- 
hood. But  here  too  the  present  system  is  as 

i*  p.  47.  is  p.  52. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  149 

usual  on  the  wrong  side.  Marriage  has  been 
made  into  an  economic  bargain.  Of  the  effect  on 
the  welfare  of  the  race  we  need  hardly  inquire. 
Wallace  believes  that  only  through  socialism  can 
we  achieve  "that  perfect  freedom  of  choice  in 
marriage  which  will  only  be  possible  when  all 
are  economically  equal,  and  no  question  of  social 
rank  or  material  advantage  can  have  the  slight- 
est influence  in  determining  that  choice."  16  And 
Saleeby  adds,  "  Again  I  say,  if  socialism,  or  the 
abolition  of  (wti-natural)  inheritance,  be  neces- 
sary in  order  that  selection  for  marriage  shall 
be  determined  by  the  possession  of  personal 
qualities  of  racial  value  greater  than  the  power 
of  purse,  which  has  always  been  a  racial  curse, 
then  the  sooner  socialism  is  established  the  bet- 
ter." 17 

By  what  means  then  shall  the  edicts  of  eu- 
genics be  put  into  force?  It  is  difficult  to  see 
how  society  can  exert  any  influence  whatever, 
other  than  to  disseminate  information,  unless  it 
is  in  control  of  the  economic  situation :  but  this 
again  is  socialism.  It  is  incompatible  with  the 
very  first  principle  of  personal  liberty  to  make 
laws  governing  the  action  of  individuals  in  this 
matter.  A  little  might  be  accomplished  by  nega- 
tive laws,  which  are  not  so  objectionable  in  this 

16  Fortnightly  Review,  January,  1908. 

17  p.  198. 


150      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

connection  as  positive  mandates,  but  these  would 
prove  difficult  to  enforce  and  of  small  utility  at 
best.  The  anti-socialist  is  here  utterly  powerless 
and  impotent. 

It  cannot  be  denied  indeed  that  any  society, 
calculating  or  otherwise,  has  an  influence  in  this 
respect.  Our  present  society  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
exercising  a  most  potent  influence  —  in  the 
wrong  direction.  The  question  is  whether  this 
"  reversed  selection  "  shall  be  remedied  by  a  re- 
turn to  nature's  method,  "  natural  selection,"  or 
whether  the  time  has  come  for  man  to  assert  his 
mastery  over  the  future  of  humanity.  Says  Gal- 
ton  on  this  point  in  Sociological  Papers,  1905, 
"  Purely  passive,  or  what  may  be  styled  mechani- 
cal evolution,  ...  is  moulded  by  blind  and 
wasteful  processes,  namely,  by  an  extravagant 
production  of  raw  material  and  the  ruthless  re- 
jection of  all  that  is  superfluous,  through  the 
blundering  steps  of  trial  and  error.  .  .  .  Evolu- 
tion is  in  any  case  a  grand  phantasmagoria,  but 
it  assumes  an  infinitely  more  interesting  aspect 
under  the  knowledge  that  the  human  will  is,  in 
some  small  measure,  capable  of  directing  its 
course.  Man  has  the  power  of  doing  this  largely 
so  far  as  the  evolution  of  humanity  is  con- 
cerned." 18  Says  Lancaster, — "  Man  is  ...  a 
product  of  the  definite  and  orderly  evolution 

is  p.  52. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  151 

which  is  universal,  a  being  resulting  from  and 
driven  by  the  one  great  nexus  of  mechanism, 
which  we  call  Nature.  He  stands  alone,  face  to 
face  with  that  relentless  mechanism.  It  is  his 
destiny  to  understand  and  control  it."  19  Sa- 
leeby  adds,  "  It  is  our  destiny  to  command  the 
end  while  humanising  the  means."  20  "  Nature 
can  preserve  a  race  only  by  destroying  the  unfit. 
We  who  are  intelligent  must  preserve  and  ele- 
vate the  race  by  preventing  the  unfit  from  ever 
coming  into  existence  at  all.  We  must  replace 
nature's  selective  death  rate  by  a  selective  birth 
rate.  This  is  merciful  and  supremely  moral:  it 
means  vast  economy  in  life  and  money  and  time 
and  suffering:  it  is  natural  at  bottom,  but  it  is 
Nature  raised  to  her  highest  power  in  that  al- 
most supra-natural  fact  —  the  moral  intelli- 
gence of  man." 21  As  we  shall  see  under  the 
method  of  socialism  this  is  the  exact  object  of 
socialism  from  the  eugenist's  point  of  view. 

But  society  must  in  some  manner  exercise  this 
power,  this  time  not  over  insensate  material,  but 
over  the  very  living  elements  of  which  it  is  itself 
composed.  This  particular  control,  moreover,  is 
one  over  functions  hitherto  of  all  others  deemed 
most  private  and  individual.  Who  shall  beget 
descendants  and  how  many?  —  this  has  been 

i»  Romanes  Lecture,  1905.        21  p.  24. 
20  p.  41. 


152      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

held  to  be  a  matter  of  strictly  private  concern. 
On  the  contrary  it  is  the  one  individual  activity 
which  means  most  for  society,  particularly  for 
the  society  of  the  future.  And  moreover  the 
children  are  not  merely  wards  of  the  parents :  in 
a  larger  sense  they  belong  to  society,  to  which 
they  may  appeal  for  upbringing  in  case  of  the  de- 
fault of  their  parents. 

Looked  at  from  the  standpoint  of  biological 
evolution  their  deserts  are  seen  to  be  quite  dis- 
tinct from  the  ability  or  inclination  of  their 
parents  to  provide  for  them.  They  are  related 
not  to  the  actual  position  and  power  of  their 
parents,  but  to  that  potential  position  and  power 
which  with  other  and  more  favourable  circum- 
stances their  parents  might  have  realised.  And 
not  simply  to  this  either,  for  the  latest  word  of 
Mendalian  genetics  is  to  the  effect  that  those 
parents  possessed  the  power  of  transmitting 
qualities  which  they  themselves  could  never  real- 
ise in  their  own  persons.  Hence  the  need  of 
breaking  up  this  chain  of  fortuitous  inheritances 
at  the  point  of  beginning  of  each  successive  gene- 
ration. 

Society  is  responsible  to  each  child  that  it  may 
receive  a  "  square  deal."  The  child  is  innocent 
of  the  overt  sins  of  its  parents,  even  if  endowed  to 
some  extent  with  their  hereditary  qualities.  But 
so  much  of  accident  has  entered  into  their  lives 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  153 

that  the  child  should,  as  another  individual,  be 
so  far  as  possible  freed  from  the  chain  of  con- 
sequences of  their  choices,  good  or  bad.  And 
this  again  can  only  be  undertaken  by  society  on 
condition  that  the  would  be  parents  receive  the 
sanction  of  society.  The  state  cannot  assume  re- 
sponsibility for  that  over  which  it  has  no  con- 
trol, though  it  could  to  be  sure  accomplish  some- 
thing with  a  given  product. 

The  only  efficient  medium  for  such  control  is 
that  state  which  controls  environment.  Hence 
it  is  not  the  interests  of  education  alone  that  are 
conserved  by  socialism,  but  equally  those  of  eu- 
genics. For  the  socialist  state  exercising  com- 
plete control  over  industry,  is  in  a  peculiarly 
favourable  position  to  reward  parenthood,  par- 
ticularly motherhood,  in  every  way.  Thus  com- 
pensation of  mothers  could  be  continued  during 
the  months  of  disability;  or  on  the  other  hand 
such  payment  could  be  withheld  if  it  were  de- 
sired that  such  parenthood  should  be  dis- 
couraged. By  no  other  agency  than  the  indus- 
trial state  could  society  bring  to  bear  such  potent 
influences  without  unduly  infringing  upon  indi- 
vidual and  personal  prerogatives. 

But  at  present  it  is  largely  from  lack  of  knowl- 
edge that  the  practices  of  eugenics  are  ham- 
pered. And  while  this  deficiency  of  scientific 
information  would  in  any  case  prohibit  the  im- 


154      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

mediate  inaugurating  of  eugenic  statecraft,  this 
very  lack  is  again  due  to  too  great  reliance  upon 
individual  initiative.  Scientific  investigation  in 
the  field  of  eugenics  does  not  pay, —  that  is,  it 
does  not  pay  any  individual  or  small  group  of 
individuals  to  investigate  the  facts  and  deduce 
the  proper  procedure.  Hence  the  impetus  to  re- 
search that  may  be  expected  as  a  consequence  of 
the  inauguration  of  the  socialist  regime  will  be 
of  even  more  marked  importance  as  applied  to 
evolution  than  as  applied  to  education,  for  in  the 
latter  field  it  is  already  felt  to  pay.  The  gather- 
ing and  disseminating  of  information  being  al- 
ready a  recognised  function  of  the  state,  we  shall 
have  under  socialism  both  the  knowledge  and  the 
means  of  putting  it  into  effect. 

We  may  here  note  that  there  is  but  a  limited 
field  for  the  direct  control  over  evolution,  and 
that  most  of  this  being  negative  it  could  be  put 
into  operation  even  under  our  present  system  of 
society.  Indeed  such  legal  measures  as  will  pre- 
vent the  multiplication  of  strains  of  known  un- 
fitness,  we  may  shortly  expect.  Even  our  limited 
social  consciousness  is  sufficient  to  motive  such 
a  measure,  for  there  is  none  to  profit  by  opposi- 
tion. And  as  direct  positive  measures  are  im- 
possible now,  so  they  will  doubtless  continue 
under  the  socialist  regime,  until  it  is  finally 
merged  into  the  fully  free  philosophical  an- 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  155 

arcMstic  society  in  which  they  would  be  super- 
fluous. We  may  safely  predict  that  eugenic 
measures  will  never  come  within  the  pale  of  the 
law  as  positive  mandates.  None  will  be  pro- 
secuted as  criminal  for  failure  of  parenthood. 
But  as  we  have  seen  there  is  left  to  the  social- 
ist society  the  method  of  indirect  influence 
through  the  control  of  the  economic  situation. 
Even  here  control  must  be  by  classes,  not  by  indi- 
viduals. Certain  traits  must  be  denominated 
desirable  by  society  and  these  must  be  en- 
couraged by  economic  rewards,  leaving  indivi- 
duals to  adjust  their  own  private  actions  to  these 
conditions.  Says  Saleeby,  "Thus  positive  eu- 
genics must  take  the  form,  at  present,  of  remov- 
ing such  disabilities  as  now  weigh  upon  the  de- 
sirable members  of  the  community,  especially  of 
the  more  prudent  sort."  22  For  instance  if  we 
should  assume  that  the  scholarly  temper  is  a 
hereditable  trait,  we  cannot  say  to  its  possessors, 
—  Mate,  and  be  fruitful, —  but  we  must  instead 
provide  suitable  economic  encouragement  for 
such  people  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of 
parenthood.  That  such  conditions  would  be  ef- 
fective in  producing  the  desired  results  is  not  en- 
tirely certain,  but  we  must  believe  that  they 
would  be  far  more  effective  than  the  mere  giv- 
ing of  information  alone,  which  is  all  that  could 

22  p.  200. 


156      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

be  undertaken  under  any  other  system  than  that 
of  socialism. 

But  positive  as  well  as  negative  influences  may 
be  expected  to  result  from  extra-legal  measures 
in  the  socialist  society.  In  a  community  where 
patriotism  stands  for  the  enforcement  of  those 
principles  for  which  the  state  exists,  as  well  as 
for  the  mere  continued  existence  of  the  state,  we 
may  expect  that  the  parenthood,  and  so  the 
biological  survival,  of  the  best  will  become  as 
much  a  recognised  duty  as  any  other  individual 
responsibility  to  society.  Customs  and  conven- 
tions may  well  be  expected  to  reflect  this  obliga- 
tion with  overwhelming  power  against  which  no 
individual  will  be  able  to  stand. 

Thus  we  have  seen  that  socialism  "  seeks  to 
direct  the  further  progress  of  civilisation  by 
means  of  the  social  control  of  heredity  and  en- 
vironment." It  would  not  do  to  trust  to  either 
factor  alone,  for  each  is  subject  to  the  law  of 
diminishing  returns.  Together  they  cover  all 
that  it  is  in  man's  power  to  effect  socially.  It 
may  be  freely  admitted  that  there  is  doubtless 
an  individual  factor  of  the  highest  importance 
not  herein  embraced, —  that  of  individual  will, 
which  also  contributes  to  the  direction  of  the 
future  progress  of  civilisation  directly,  as  well 
as  through  the  intervention  of  the  state.  Social- 
ism should  cooperate  with  this  factor,  which  may 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  MEANS  157 

be  known  as  that  of  individualism.  There  is 
nothing  incompatible  with  such  cooperation  in 
the  principles  of  socialism.  And  in  recognising 
the  two  factors  of  socialism  there  is  laid  a  splen- 
did foundation  for  the  exercise  of  this  third 
factor,  which  has  hitherto  monopolised  attention. 
For  socialism  does  not  in  the  least  fail  to  re- 
cognise this  factor  of  individual  will;  but,  not 
content  with  sowing  the  seed  of  racial  superior- 
ity, the  socialist  community  will  attempt  to 
gather  the  harvest  in  the  development  of  this 
racial  ability  through  the  education  of  each  indi- 
vidual and  his  consequent  reaction  upon  the 
society  which  has  thus  allowed  for  his  self-ful- 
filment. Is  it  possible  that  this  developed  indi- 
vidual should  not  prove  a  new  point  of  departure 
for  a  further  development  of  civilisation?  If 
the  power  of  individual  will  is  indeed  an  originat- 
ing cause,  it  will  be  entirely  free  to  act  effec- 
tively in  that  society  which  is  thoroughly 
organised,  informed  with  socially  perceived 
ideals,  and  governed  democratically  through  in- 
telligent decision.  The  socialist  society  is  but 
supplying  the  machine  or  instrument  with  which 
the  individualist  master  may  make  his  person- 
ality felt  in  the  further  progress  of  civilisation. 
Socialism  promises  to  make  the  two  factors  ef- 
ficient and  so  to  allow  scope  for  the  third.  The 
individual  can  ask  nothing  further  from  society. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SOCIAL  CONTROL,   METHOD 

WE  now  come  to  that  aspect  of  the  socialist 
proposal  that  most  departs  from  established 
procedure.  This  is  in  reference  to  the  method 
of  determining  which  of  two  or  more  alternative 
plans  or  -persons  is  to  prevail.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  most  direct  and  simple  method  of  such 
determination  is  that  of  combat  or  warfare. 
This  is  the  primitive  method  of  settling  disputes 
or  controversies.  Its  tendency  under  primitive 
conditions  is  on  the  whole  to  select  the  fittest. 
For  of  the  combatants  or  groups  of  combatants 
the  one  which  is  superior  in  prowess,  including 
the  considerable  advantage  of  possessing  the  best 
laid  plans,  is  likely,  barring  accidents,  to  turn 
out  victorious. 

Since  in  the  long  run  this  is  the  aggregate 
result  it  might  on  first  consideration  seem  that 
it  were  well  to  let  nature  continue  in  this,  her 
first  method  of  selection.  Unfortunately  for  the 
untroubled  peace  of  mind  of  man,  the  outcome  of 
warfare  does  not  always  coincide  with  his  own 
ideals.  Hence  he  is  tempted  to  try  to  improve 

158 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  159 

upon  this  method.  Says  Geddes,  speaking  of  the 
social  demands  of  science,  "  The  government  of 
the  future  —  as  yet  only  ideal,  .  .  .  believes 
that  there  are  ideals  and  that  they  may  be  worth 
acting  upon." 23  Warfare  is  incompetent  to 
evolve  the  type  idealised  by  man  or  to  develop 
in  the  individual  man  those  characteristics  de- 
manded for  the  highest  civilisation. 

But  this  first  method  of  nature,  direct  warfare, 
is  unsatisfactory  even  as  the  agent  of  "  natural 
selection/'  To  say  nothing  of  the  immense  drain 
of  warfare  on  human  happiness  and  upon  wealth, 
it  does  not  even  accomplish  its  purpose  of  select- 
ing the  fittest  with  entire  efficiency.  For  the 
survival  of  the  individual  is  dependent  upon  ac- 
cidental conditions  quite  as  frequently  as  upon 
merit,  and  even  in  case  of  survival  the  victor  is 
often  crippled  and  so  doomed  to  fall  in  the  next 
conflict.  Besides  there  is  not  only  the  question 
of  which  individual  shall  survive  but  what  policy. 
Warfare  is  a  most  awkward  means  of  settling  the 
latter  question. 

For  several  reasons  warfare  has  been  discarded 
among  civilised  peoples  so  far  as  settling  dis- 
putes regarding  personal  matters  is  concerned. 
In  this  sphere  it  survived  long  as  combat  and 
still  lingers  in  the  form  of  the  duel.  But  it  is  so 

23  Quoted  by  Saleeby  in  Parenthood  and  Race  Culture,  p. 
122. 


160      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

manifestly  unfair  between  the  mature  and  the  im- 
mature as  to  be  early  regarded  as  dishonourable 
for  the  former.  In  the  next  place  quantity  was 
seen  to  prevail  at  the  expense  of  quality.  Sheer 
weight  of  numbers  crush  the  braver  and  more 
deserving  few.  It  was  at  first  attempted  to  ob- 
viate these  disparities  by  regulations,  as  in  the 
tourney  and  the  duel.  For  a  time  this  was  con- 
sidered a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  matter. 
But  better  civilisation  sees  the  necessity  for  do- 
ing away  with  it  altogether,  if  not  in  the  interests 
of  the  individuals,  who  are  overthrown  justly  or 
unjustly,  then  certainly  in  the  interests  of  the 
group,  which  is  desirous  that  the  better  man  and 
the  better  plan  should  prevail. 

Thus  it  has  been  displaced  in  its  crudest  and 
cruelest  form  by  the  prohibition  of  the  govern- 
ment upon  private  aggression  and  vengeance.  In 
other  words  the  government  as  a  harmonising 
force  took  upon  itself  to  decide  the  proper  out- 
come of  such  conflicts.  At  first  the  ruler  saw 
to  it  that  brawls  did  not  occur,  and  settled  dis- 
putes himself.  Later  he  was  forced  to  abandon 
this  power  or  voluntarily  relinquished  it  to  be 
settled  by  competition  as  a  form  of  indirect  war- 
fare. This  was  done  largely  because  there  was  at 
that  time  no  government  possessing  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people,  as  is  evinced  by  the  saying 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  161 

widely  current  that  the  best  government  is  that 
which  governs  least. 

In  general  therefore,  from  whatever  cause, 
warfare  has  been  replaced  by  competition.  In- 
stead of  trying  conclusions  directly  with  his 
antagonist,  each  seeks  to  become  possessed  of  the 
other's  means  of  livelihood  or  supremacy.  It 
often  becomes  a  struggle  to  the  death  for  the  pos- 
session of  some  one  common  object  or  advantage. 
All  is  not  fair  in  this  conflict  as  in  warfare, 
for  the  governing  power  prescribes  the  rules  and 
limits  of  the  struggle.  It  is  a  supervised  con- 
test, in  which  direct  aggressive  tactics  are  barred, 
though  it  tends  to  degenerate  into  simple  war- 
fare. From  the  rivalry  between  Cain  and  Abel 
down  to  the  latest  strike,  the  loser  shows  a  dis- 
position to  disregard  morality  and  adopt  "  direct 
action."  The  winning  party  is  not  so  strongly 
tempted  to  employ  these  measures  and  con- 
sequently deprecates  violence. 

That  there  is  bound  to  be  such  reversion  to 
the  earlier  warfare  wherever  there  is  competi- 
tion ought  to  be  apparent  on  the  slighest  con- 
sideration, and  that  this  warfare  tends  to  the 
commission  of  unlawful  acts  is  equally  obvious. 
Hence  it  is  no  permanent  solution  to  establish  a 
strong  government.  No  government  will  ever 
eliminate  this  extremely  undesirable  tendency  of 


162      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

competitive  industry.  Although  competition  is 
a  natural  method,  along  with  warfare,  it  is  ca- 
pable of  advantageous  replacement  by  a  less 
wasteful  method  if  such  can  be  found. 

It  may  readily  be  admitted  that  competition 
is  an  improvement  over  warfare.  In  the  first 
place  it  is  far  less  destructive.  There  is  nothing 
personal  about  the  conflict.  Hatred  is  therefore 
absent  and  the  energies  of  each  are  instead  con- 
centrated on  the  winning  of  the  desired  goal. 
It  is  as  Adam  Smith  long  ago  pointed  out,  posi- 
tive in  its  results.  Warfare  is,  as  we  saw,  nega- 
tive. Warfare  inevitably  tends  to  lessen  life: 
competition  may  not,  for  both  contestants  may 
be  able  to  win  a  measure  of  success  without 
greatly  diminishing  that  of  each  other.  It 
readily  merges  into  cooperation;  as  in  hunting 
or  fishing,  for  example,  the  rivals  turn  to  each 
other's  assistance  when  the  game  would  other- 
wise escape.  Thus  there  results  a  greater 
variety  of  development  of  talent  or  ability  than 
under  warfare.  Not  alone  the  destructive  but 
the  constructive  abilities  are  largely  exercised. 

In  consequence  of  all  these  advantages  and  be- 
cause it  was  the  smallest  possible  departure  from 
the  former  system  of  warfare,  it  was  early 
adopted  by  society  as  the  proper  method  of  de- 
termining superiority  of  persons  and  projects. 
Under  simple  and  uncomplicated  social  condi- 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  163 

tions  it  tends  to  select  the  fittest  automatically, 
and  this  selection  results  for  the  time  being  in 
increased  productivity  in  industry.  It  is  sub- 
ject to  regulation,  in  theory  at  least,  which  may 
cut  off  many  of  its  untoward  effects,  and  it  may 
even  be  prohibited  in  particular  cases  without 
entirely  destroying  its  efficiency  as  a  principle 
of  social  action.  It  has  had  a  long  and  varied 
history  as  the  doctrine  of  laisser  faire. 

But  just  as  decision  by  warfare  was  previously 
outgrown  and  discarded  in  favour  of  this  new 
method  of  selection,  so  competition  shows  evi- 
dences of  having  seen  its  most  useful  days. 
Nature  herself  has  found  a  more  economical 
method  and  is  using  it  in  her  higher  forms  of 
creation.  Man  as  man  no  longer  determines 
every  personal  problem  by  the  old  method  of 
trial  and  error  that  is  characteristic  of  com- 
petition. Instead  the  contest  has  become  re- 
presentative,—  psychical  in  a  word.  Man  by  the 
use  of  the  imagination  and  the  understanding 
calculates  the  probable  effect  of  a  proposed  ac- 
tion, instead  of  being  under  the  necessity  of 
performing  the  action  in  order  to  be  convinced 
of  its  outcome.  It  is  the  decision  of  selfconscious 
man  that  replaces  the  outworn  method  of  trial 
and  error.  The  contest  takes  place  within  his 
mind  on  the  mimic  stage  of  his  representative 
consciousness.  Mind  reproduces  in  its  micro- 


164      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

cosm  the  macrocosm  of  nature,  with  distinctly 
economical  results. 

For  indeed  the  enormous  wastefulness  of  com- 
petition as  a  regulator  of  prices  is  a  matter  en- 
tirely open  to  our  observation.  We  have  only  to 
look  about  us  to  note  the  unnecessary  duplication 
of  all  sorts  of  industrial  and  commercial  plants, 
from  railroads  whose  tracks  parallel  each  other 
for  thousands  of  miles  to  corner  groceries  whose 
rival  stocks  of  provisions  grow  stale  on  the 
shelves  in  the  efforts  of  each  proprietor  to  carry 
"complete  lines."  Rival  establishments  keep 
open  long  hours  lest  they  lose  some  little  stray 
business  to  their  competitors,  while  lightly  laden 
delivery  wagons  follow  each  other  about  over 
nearly  identical  routes.  The  inconvenience  and 
loss  of  such  absurdly  stupid  lack  of  social  deci- 
sion is  perhaps  best  seen  in  such  instances  as  that 
of  the  toleration  of  several  rival  telephone  sys- 
tems in  the  .same  town. 

However  as  everyone  at  all  conversant  with 
the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  business  world 
well  knows,  it  is  in  the  process  of  marketing  the 
product  that  the  cost  of  competition  reaches  its 
acme  of  socially  useless  expenditure.  The  pro- 
digal extravagance  of  competitive  advertising 
needs  but  to  be  mentioned,  for  it  is  as  con- 
spicuous as  the  advertising  itself.  And  this 
stupendous  social  loss  is  further  augmented  by 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  165 

the  cost  of  armies  of  high  paid  salesmen  under 
conditions  requiring  the  most  lavish  expenditure 
for  purposes  of  demonstration  and  display.  In- 
deed the  retail  price  of  most  articles  of  com- 
merce, not  matters  of  daily  necessity,  is  com- 
monly several  times  the  cost  of  production,  ow- 
ing to  this  entirely  unnecessary  tax.  And  so  far 
is  this  evil  from  the  possibility  of  remedy  by 
further  competition  that  we  may  reckon  that  the 
greater  the  number  of  competitors  the  greater 
must  be  the  margin  of  profit  on  each  article,  for 
the  fewer  the  sales  for  each  competitor. 

But  while  we  have  thus  seen  that  competition 
is  showing  no  sign  of  becoming  any  the  less  costly 
it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  it  is  becoming  in- 
creasingly unreliable  as  a  method  of  selecting  the 
fittest.  So  many  purely  adventitious  factors 
have  arisen  that  success  in  competition  now  indi- 
cates little  regarding  the  capability  of  the  success- 
ful competitor.  Indeed  much  of  the  business 
competition  today  is  carried  on  by  proxy.  Es- 
tates are  managed  by  trust  companies;  a  thou- 
sand and  one  agencies  agree  to  carry  on  each  and 
every  kind  of  business  on  commission;  defunct 
concerns  are  actually  helped  on  to  their  feet  by 
receiverships ;  and  even  the  fortunes  of  the  insane 
or  criminal  have  been  known  to  increase  during 
the  period  of  their  incarceration.  Well  may  we 
be  able  to  join  in  the  indictment  that  "  the  race 


166      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong, 
neither  yet  bread  to  the  wise,  nor  yet  riches  to 
men  of  understanding,  nor  yet  favour  to  men  of 
skill;  but  time  and  chance  happeneth  to  them 
all."  24 

But  even  if  competition  were  unerringly  ef- 
ficient in  every  instance  as  a  selective  principle, 
it  would  still  remain  unsatisfactory  in  the 
highest  degree  on  account  of  the  unideal  grounds 
on  which  selection  is  based.  These,  except  where 
modified  by  the  principle  of  decision  which  in- 
deed tends  here  and  there  to  enter  and  claim  her 
own,  are  rooted  solely  in  the  most  uninspired 
economic  materialism.  The  competitive  selection 
of  industrial  rulers  is  based  solely  on  their 
ability  to  acquire,  ethically  or  otherwise,  a 
fortune.  The  most  revolting  personal  morality 
is  no  bar  against  eligibility  for  a  commanding 
position  in  industry.  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde 
form  no  exceptional  partnership  in  modern  busi- 
ness practice.  Moreover  industrial  leadership  is 
hereditary.  Hence  even  if  the  original  accumu- 
lator of  a  fortune  be  a  monument  of  virtue  and 
rectitude,  there  is  no  guarantee  whatever  that 
his  heirs  will  exhibit  like  qualities:  rather  the 
reverse  indeed  for  the  prevalent  training  for  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  millionaires  has  not 

24  Ecclesiastes  9  ill. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  167 

usually  been  such  as  to  conduce  to  moral  in- 
trepidity. 

But  even  such,  men  as  are  selected  or  allowed 
tc  assume  leadership  through  inheritance  would 
hardly  initiate  such  atrocious  practices  as  are 
common  in  many  portions  of  the  field  of  business 
if  there  were  any  practicable  alternative.  The 
would  be  honorable  business  man  is  compelled  to 
imitate  the  methods  of  his  most  unscrupulous 
competitors,  or  go  out  of  business.  The  result 
of  this  condition  is  that  the  conduct  of  many  lines 
of  business  very  often  appears  to  be  in  the  con- 
trol of  fiends.  No  man  however  evilly  disposed 
could  willingly  contrive  so  many  and  so  malefi- 
cent devices  of  misery  and  destruction  as  we  find 
displayed  on  every  hand.  Our  food  markets 
reek  with  diseased,  dirty  and  adulterated  prod- 
ucts of  every  description.  "  Cheap  and  nasty  " 
seems  to  be  the  conquering  maxim  of  the  success- 
ful purveyor  of  delicacies.  Even  a  trademark 
often  guarantees  good  quality  for  a  time  only 
that  the  brand  itself  may  be  later  exploited  in 
the  quest  of  the  all  important  profits.  From 
wooden  nutmegs  down  to  the  latest  Jordan  al- 
monds of  sugar-coated  peach  pits  the  rule  of 
competition  in  business  amply  justifies  the  warn- 
ing "  caveat  emptor." 

For  profits  depend  not  upon  merit  but  upon 


168      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

skill  in  competing.  And  while  the  weapons  ia 
this  indirect  warfare  may  be  ability  in  produc- 
tion, the  armor  is  undeniably  secrecy  and  decep- 
tion. There  is  no  natural  limit  to  profit  except 
the  similar  rapacity  of  actual  or  potential  com- 
petitors. Hence  the  effort  to  secure  these 
profits  and  to  outwit  business  antagonists  brings 
out  all  the  chicanery  of  the  competitor's  nature. 
It  matters  not  by  what  means  those  with  whom 
one  does  business  are  overreached, —  whether  by 
greater  foresight,  accident  of  the  weather,  chance 
turn  of  the  market,  manipulation  of  the  same, 
unprincipled  bargaining,  or  legal  quibble, —  the 
result  is  equally  satisfactory,  larger  profits. 
Finally  we  might  mention,  monopoly  prices,  in- 
timidation of  rivals,  secret  bargaining  with  com- 
mon carriers,  etc.,  for  each  and  all  of  the  means 
known  best  to  commercial  and  legal  mercenaries 
must  be  utilised  if  one  would  aspire  to  leader- 
ship under  the  regime  of  industrial  competition. 
Thus  competition  must  give  place  because  it 
fails  almost  as  much  as  does  warfare  to  allow 
scope  to  the  influence  of  ideals.  It  is  material 
considerations  alone  that  are  of  effect  in  de- 
termining which  man  or  measure  is  "  fittest." 
Like  warfare  competition  is  incompetent  to 
evolve  the  type  idealised  by  man  or  to  develop 
in  the  individual  man  those  characteristics  de- 
manded for  the  highest  civilisation. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  169 

And  all  these  objections  absolutely  inhere  in 
the  very  nature  of  competition,  rather  than  in 
any  abuse  to  which  it  is  subject.  As  warfare  im- 
plies a  field  strewn  with  the  slain  and  wounded, 
so  competition  implies  failures  to  obtain  a  live- 
lihood as  well  as  successes.  And  these  failures 
involve  misery  and  suffering  quite  as  real  as  that 
involved  in  the  bloodshed  of  battle.  In  any  case 
even  if  these  failures  could  be  made  but  rela- 
tive, so  long  is  the  contest  and  so  severe  is  the 
struggle  that  it  is  open  to  most  of  the  objections 
of  direct  warfare.  Even  if  adventitious  ad- 
vantages, such  as  undeserved  "(m-natural)  in- 
heritances "  were  eliminated,  and  a  minimum 
subsistence  income  were  guaranteed  to  every  de- 
feated competitor,  all  the  objections  noted  would 
still  apply. 

We  may  note  as  most  significant  that  competi- 
tion is  entirely  abolished  in  that  most  closely 
knit  of  social  groups  —  the  family.  The  family 
is  indeed  the  first  social  unit  to  foreshow  com- 
ing social  reforms  for  the  reason  that  it  is  so 
well  organised  as  to  be  well  in  advance  of  the 
other  forms.  To  be  entirely  consistent  the  ad- 
vocates of  unlimited  competition  should  allow 
each  member  of  the  family  to  scramble  for  the 
daintiest  morsels  and  the  most  attractive  cloth- 
ing. It  is  in  this  narrow  sphere  of  the  home  that 
its  chief  objection  becomes  most  apparent, 


170      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

namely,  its  essentially  anti-social  character.  It 
is  as  we  have  seen  motived  strictly  by  the  self- 
seeking  impulses  and  indeed  is  seriously  inter- 
fered with  by  the  altruistic  impulses.  A  boy 
who  is  being  trained  for  participation  in  competi- 
tive enterprise  should  not  be  led  to  become  too 
regardful  of  the  feelings  or  claims  of  others.  He 
must  not  be  too  considerate,  too  generous,  or  too 
open-hearted.  The  effect  of  the  competitive  sys- 
tem is  distinctly  to  discourage  the  social  quali- 
ties, for  their  possession  is  a  distinct  disad- 
vantage in  the  business  world. 

Moreover,  in  practice  competition  constantly 
points  to  the  advantages  of  that  form  of  industry 
which  is  destined  to  replace  it, —  cooperation. 
For  ever  and  anon  the  competitors  find  it  to  their 
advantage  in  this  case  and  that  to  forget  the  an- 
tagonism of  their  separate  interests  and  to  work 
together  to  accomplish  some  common  and  not 
otherwise  attainable  end.  It  is  constantly  being 
overlooked  by  the  participants  that  "  one's  gain 
is  another's  loss,"  when  each  may  gain  more  by 
allowing  the  other  to  participate  in  the  ad- 
vantages. This  cooperation  in  turn  becomes  less 
occasional  and  more  organised.  Thus  does  the 
old  order  contain,  as  Marx  says,  the  germ  of  its 
successor. 

Where  this  transforming  process  is  for  any 
reason  long  delayed  the  competition  becomes 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  171 

more  and  more  bitter,  and  narrowed  down  to  a 
smaller  and  smaller  number  of  competitors. 
Finally  the  victor  over  all  takes  charge  of  the 
combined  productive  factors,  and  decrees  invaria- 
bly that  all  competition  between  them  cease 
thenceforth  in  the  interests  of  cooperation,  ex- 
cept where  for  peculiar  reasons  this  personal 
competition  will  not  interfere  with  effective  co- 
operation in  the  larger  process  of  production. 
Under  this  exception  to  be  sure  fall  most  of  the 
workers  under  the  wage  system,  yet  theirs  is  a 
strictly  narrowed  competition.  Workers  are  al- 
lowed to  compete  in  quantity  of  articles  pro- 
duced under  the  piece  work  system,  but  are  not 
allowed  to  scramble  for  the  best  or  the  most 
raw  material  or  for  the  use  of  the  best  machines. 
But  the  next  best  step  in  advance,  cooperation, 
is  attended  with  a  very  considerable  change  in 
the  alignment  of  economic  and  social  forces,  ne- 
cessitating a  very  great  amount  of  readjustment. 
It  is,  like  the  substitution  of  competition  for 
warfare,  only  possible  if  conditioned  by  a  great 
enlargement  of  the  functions  of  the  state.  It 
requires  a  strong  central  authority  to  direct  the 
now  quite  comprehensive  social  organisation. 
Whereas  previously  government  was  negative, 
merely  prescribing  the  rules  of  the  contest  and 
the  penalties  for  their  infraction,  it  must  now 
become  positive,  not  prescribing  the  rules  of  the 


172      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

contest,  but  displacing  the  contest  altogether  and 
instead  pronouncing  the  decision  which  replaces 
the  outcome  formerly  contested  for. 

Cooperation  in  industrial  affairs  is  indeed  pos- 
sible only  if  supplemented  by  decision  as  a  means 
of  selection  of  men  and  measures.  For  unlike 
the  formerly  employed  principles  of  warfare  and 
competition,  cooperation  does  not  automatically 
select  the  men  who  are  to  administer  industry,  or 
the  measures  which  are  to  be  adopted.  To  be 
sure  these  points  might  be  determined  by  the  em- 
ployment of  the  principle  of  chance,  as  in  the 
selection  of  jurors  by  lot  and  the  selection  of 
alternative  policies  by  the  toss  of  a  coin;  but 
these  crude  methods  are  clearly  tending  to  be 
replaced,  in  the  first  instance  by  the  appointment 
of  specialists  and  in  the  second  by  the  careful 
consideration  of  the  proposed  policies.  Decision 
remains  then  as  the  only  mode  of  selection  proper 
to  cooperation. 

If  the  government  is  to  possess  powers  so  vast 
it  is  imperative  that  its  form  be  such  as  to  ren- 
der it  entirely  trustworthy  and  it  may  as  well  be 
admitted  that  if  such  a  form  cannot  be  devised 
then  the  outlook  for  the  success  of  socialism  is 
gloomy  enough.  But  after  all  it  is  perhaps  not 
too  much  to  expect  that  a  government  that  is 
already  entrusted  with  life  and  death  powers 
over  its  subjects  should  not  prove  unequal  to  its 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  173 

trust  when  allowed  to  control  incomes  and 
prices.  Besides,  as  we  have  shown  earlier,  the 
question  is  merely  the  choice  between  control 
by  the  authorised  government  of  the  state  and 
control  by  the  unauthorised  government  of  the 
trusts  and  labour  unions. 

It  is  proposed  then  to  replace  competition  by 
a  merely  representative  conflict,  which  will  be 
destructive  of  neither  time  nor  energy.  It  may 
be  asked  if  under  competition  the  conflict  is  not 
already  reduced  to  its  smallest  proportions,  for 
we  must  still  assume  that  so  long  as  there  are  in- 
dividualities in  the  world  there  will  be  conflicts. 
To  this  question  we  may  return  an  unqualified 
negative.  Nature  herself  has  pointed  out  the 
way.  Let  us  observe  how  this  evolution  of 
method  has  proceeded. 

In  the  beginning  evolution  worked  through 
physical  forces  alone.  Conditions  did  not  even  ad- 
mit of  chemical  action,  on  account  of  too  great 
heat  and  possibly  lack  of  pressure  due  to  too  great 
dispersion.  Working  by  the  single  law  of  gravi- 
tation as  a  centripetal  force,  and  the  law  of  mo- 
mentum as  a  centrifugal  force,  systems  evolved, 
nebulous  and  not  only  inorganic  but  inchoate 
so  far  as  chemical  composition  was  concerned. 
Possessing  none  but  physical  properties,  so  sim- 
ple were  the  resulting  systems  that  they  could 
be  computed  mathematically.  But  after  a  time 


174      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

differentiation  on  the  basis  of  the  relation  of 
mass  to  extension  could  not  but  become  appar- 
ent. Here  we  have  the  basis  on  which  chemical 
affinity  can  begin  to  work.  Contiguity  of  simi- 
lar atoms  bred  molecules  by  natural  segregation 
as  the  most  elementary  of  chemical  processes. 
These  molecules  assumed  definite  characteristics, 
each  its  own.  While  still  subject  to  elementary 
physical  laws  matter  began  to  assume  other  capa- 
bilities and  characteristics  which  were  destined  to 
quite  overshadow  the  former  ones. 

As  chemical  reactions  became  ever  more  com- 
plicated there  became  manifest  a  new  or  hitherto 
inoperative  principle,  life.  At  first  barely  self- 
sustaining  and  passive,  by  successive  stages  it 
proceeds  progressively  from  the  stage  of  passive 
selection  to  that  of  active  seeking,  still  proceed- 
ing to  work  out  its  problems  empirically  and  thus 
to  reach  its  solutions  by  the  mechanical  method 
of  trial  and  error.  At  last  in  the  human  being 
is  born  the  purely  psychical  faculty  of  repre- 
sentation. And  here  on  the  mimic  field  of  rep- 
resentative consciousness  are  fought  out  all  na- 
ture's battles  in  the  comparatively  economical 
and  indestructive  fashion  of  cogitation.  Instead 
of  the  former  method  of  blind  nature  which  con- 
tinually tries,  and  rejects  the  unsuccessful  indi- 
viduals of  her  experimentation,  man's  reason 
forecasts  and  predicts  the  result  and  thus  avoids 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  175 

the  necessity  of  the  wastefulness  and  pain  of 
nature's  method.  It  is  this  representative  fac- 
ulty and  its  method  that  the  socialist  seeks  to 
substitute  for  the  natural  competition  of  the 
present  system. 

The  momentousness  of  this  charge  can  hardly 
be  overestimated.  Nothing  like  it  has  taken 
place  in  historical  times,  for  history  practically 
begins  with  the  establishment  of  competition  ex- 
cept as  between  nations.  It  is  to  society  what 
the  birth  of  abstraction  is  to  the  individual.  It 
is  not  that  the  selective  struggle  has  been  abol- 
ished. That  can  never  be  so  long  as  individu- 
ality persists,  but  the  struggle  has  been  lifted  to 
a  higher  plane.  It  is  no  longer  physical  but 
psychical.  The  arms  have  changed:  first  the 
sword  is  beaten  into  the  plowshare,  then  the 
pen  becomes  mightier  than  either.  The  sword 
is  indeed  the  appropriate  symbol  of  warfare,  the 
plowshare  of  competition,  the  pen  of  the  new 
era  of  discussion  now  coming  into  view.  A 
mighty  debate  replaces  the  turmoil  of  the  com- 
petitive struggle.  The  worth  of  each  plan  is 
subjected  to  the  fire  of  opposing  opinions  ex- 
pressed as  publicly  as  may  be.  Then  the  de- 
cision is  rendered  by  the  judges.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  get  unprejudiced  and  disinterested  judges. 
Consequently  the  only  jury  that  can  be  trusted 
to  render  a  decision  fairly  is  the  people  them- 


176       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

selves  —  the  whole  people.  No  considerable 
class  that  is  competent  to  judge  of  the  merits  of 
the  questions  debated  should  be  excluded  from 
this  jury,  for  the  widest  experience  is  demanded 
to  properly  interpret  the  arguments. 

Not  all  are  necessarily  debaters,  but  all  those 
possessing  ideas  will  inevitably  be  such.  And  it 
is  accordingly  seen  upon  a  little  reflection  that  it 
is  ideas  rather  than  people  that  can  in  such  cir- 
cumstances be  said  to  rule.  So  far  is  socialism 
from  being  that  form  of  government  known  as 
the  ochlocracy,  government  by  the  mob,  that  it 
would  undoubtedly  be  its  direct  opposite.  In  a 
sense  rule  will  never  be  to  the  many.  The  few 
will  always  possess  the  superior  minds  and  will 
inevitably  assume  the  reins  of  government,  if  not 
ostensibly,  then  still  as  the  power  behind  the 
throne.  But  this  postulate  of  political  science 
comes  to  the  aid  rather  than  to  the  discomfiture 
of  socialism  rightly  understood.  For  as  we  have 
seen  the  essence  of  socialism  in  so  far  as  method 
is  concerned  is  the  substitution  of  decision  for 
competition.  If  this  decision  is  of  social  rather 
than  of  individual  or  class  character  then  the 
essential  condition  of  socialism  is  met  even  if 
the  propositions  themselves  originate  from  the 
few.  It  matters  not  by  whom  the  ideas  are  pro- 
posed. Not  their  sponsors  but  their  upholders 
are  truly  in  power. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  177 

The  jury  is  thus  in  the  background.  It  is  in- 
structed by  the  common  sense  of  the  people  at 
large.  From  this  sense  there  is  and  ought  to 
be  no  appeal.  Its  alternative  is  despotism,  the 
judgment  of  the  few,  almost  inevitably  not  dis- 
interested. The  evidence  must  be  presented  at 
such  length  that  each  voter  shall  become  fully 
informed  of  the  various  claims  of  each  measure 
for  consideration.  Therefore  the  widest  pub- 
licity must  be  given  to  all  matters  which  are  to 
come  up  for  decision.  All  opinions  must  be 
heard  if  only  to  be  rejected.  It  is  no  accident 
that  the  socialist  always  and  everywhere  is  the 
foremost  advocate  of  freedom  of  speech  or  that 
the  first  and  perhaps  the  only  fundamental  de- 
mand of  the  socialist  society  is  that  the  oppor- 
tunity to  openly  declare  convictions  on  any  topic 
whatever  shall  be  in  no  wise  abridged. 

It  can  hardly  be  claimed  that  the  decisions  of 
this  jury  will  in  every  particular  instance  be  en- 
tirely just.  The  perfection  of  society  awaits  on 
the  perfection  of  the  individual.  But  it  must 
almost  inevitably  happen  that  on  any  question 
whatsoever  the  majority  of  the  voters  or  at  least 
those  holding  the  balance  of  power  will  be  those 
not  directly  interested.  And  it  seems  altogether 
unlikely  that  any  particular  class  of  workers 
could  be  permanently  underpaid  or  ill  treated 
so  long  as  other  trades  were  favoured,  for  as- 


178       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

suredly  transfer  to  other  trades  would  never  be 
denied  so  long  as  a  majority  of  those  who  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  laws  might  feel  the  necessity 
of  leaving  the  doors  open.  While  workers  cease 
to  compete  for  jobs,  the  jobs  themselves  continue 
to  compete  for  workers.  Thus  the  socialist 
method  of  decision  is  seen  to  be  preferable  to 
the  method  of  competition  in  practically  every 
particular. 

If  we  consider  the  method  of  the  selection  of 
men  and  measures  further  from  the  side  of  its 
historical  genesis,  we  find  it  to  be  broadly  as  fol- 
lows: Warfare  is  the  normal  state  of  social 
relations  among  savages.  Man's  predatory  ac- 
tivity in  capturing  food  was  naturally  enough 
transferred  to  its  seizure  from  other  men.  Com- 
munism within  the  tribe  relegated  this  exploita- 
tion to  that  of  other  tribes  without  the  commune. 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  a  limited  communism  was 
thus  the  first  peace  that  obtained  among  men. 
This  communism  easily  provided  for  a  rude  di- 
vision of  labour,  especially  as  between  the  sexes. 

Thus  man  lived  in  association  with  his  fellows 
and  at  peace,  though  it  is  not  hard  to  believe  that 
the  power  of  the  strongest  led  to  a  ready  acqui- 
escence to  his  demands.  Bickerings  continually 
arising,  it  became  the  habit  to  refer  all  disputes 
to  the  strongest,  who  thus  became  king.  Habit 
is  strong  especially  where  mentality  is  weak. 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  179 

It  led  the  subjects  to  the  lodge  of  the  king  even 
after  his  death.  Kelationship  was  recognised  in 
their  allegiance  to  his  eldest  son.  Consequently 
seldom  was  his  strength  questioned  or  tested. 
This  remarkable  power  of  habit  may  perhaps  ac- 
count for  much  of  the  quiescence  of  today.  The 
rich  are  supposed  to  be  the  owners  of  the  vast 
wealth  which  they  possess. 

The  partial  abolition  of  warfare  within  the 
tribe  allowed  the  peaceful  to  gain  standing  and 
holdings.  As  these  grew  relatively  numerous 
and  their  real  worth  to  the  tribe  became  more 
or  less  recognised  by  all,  their  opinions  and  in- 
terests began  to  receive  consideration  as  against 
those  of  the  warriors.  Property  rights  were  in- 
stituted. Here  was  the  foundation  for  an  en- 
tirely new  sort  of  struggle  for  supremacy.  From 
the  older  sort  of  direct  physical  hand  to  hand 
combat,  we  pass  to  a  subtle  impersonal  struggle 
by  indirect  means.  Who  shall  take  possession  of 
the  facilities  by  which  all  must  live?  For  the 
possible  amount  of  property  in  such  facilities  is 
limited  by  nature.  There  may  be  as  good  fish 
in  the  sea  as  ever  were  caught,  but  the  same  could 
hardly  be  said  of  the  small  river  or  lake.  The 
plumpest  nuts  may  be  at  the  top  of  the  tree,  but 
once  these  are  gathered  there  remain  only  the  in- 
ferior fruits.  The  best  hunting  ground,  the 
patches  of  most  succulent  berries,  the  most  tooth- 


180      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

some  game, —  all  are  limited  in  quantity  by  na- 
ture. If  not  in  direct  combat,  man  must  still 
struggle  with  man.  Strife  arose  over  the  posses- 
sion of  these  facilities.  Peace  could  only  be  ob- 
tained by  holding  them  in  common.  Thus  the 
commune  is  the  first  form  of  peaceful  tribal  prop- 
erty relation.  Again  this  advanced  form  of  con- 
trol breeds  its  own  undoing.  For  not  only  does 
the  military  order  survive  with  its  king  and  army, 
but  since  all  civilisation  demands  a  peace  pre- 
serving power,  the  councils,  etc.,  tended  to  rec- 
ognise the  claim  of  the  productive  occupier  of 
the  land  as  perpetual,  and  the  people  acquiesce. 
From  limited  tenure  arises  the  idea  of  permanent 
right,  and  finally  of  "  fee-simple." 

Thus  there  arose  a  scramble  for  choice  loca- 
tions and  large  holdings,  with  an  appetite  for 
preferment  under  the  law,  which  is  another  per- 
manent heritage  to  us  from  the  past.  But  courts 
were  instituted,  constitutions  and  statute  laws 
established,  and  finally  all  have  become  equal  in 
the  sight  of  the  law.  Is  this  promise  of  peaceful 
relations  to  be  realised?  No,  not  only  has  every 
sort  of  peaceful  relationship  been  broken  in  upon 
by  foreign  wars,  but  even  considering  the  local 
situation  alone,  each  community  has  developed 
within  itself  the  seeds  of  conflict.  The  equitable 
distribution  of  land  and  natural  facilities  for  life 
has  become  through  one  cause  and  another 


SOCIAL  CONTROL,  METHOD  181 

grossly  inequitable,  and  most  important  of  all, 
the  possession  of  capital  or  credit  has  become 
the  sine  qua  non  of  successful  competition.  The 
inventions  of  science,  which  at  first  tended  to 
make  the  peasant  equal  to  the  noble,  now 
threaten  to  provide  the  modern  noble  with  the 
means  of  permanently  enslaving  the  peasant. 
Success  in  competition  is  now  due  to  a  thousand 
factors,  of  which  often  the  least  is  merit. 

Everything  points  to  the  displacement  of  com- 
petition as  a  matter  of  economic  and  moral  ne- 
cessity. It  is  crude,  wasteful,  awkward  and  un- 
reliable. A  more  direct  means  of  determining 
survival  value  and  the  lines  of  future  develop- 
ment is  imperatively  demanded.  Even  the 
changing  manners  as  they  reflect  the  prevailing 
social  system,  presage  the  downfall  of  competi- 
tion. 

During  the  era  of  force  we  may  well  believe 
that  etiquette  demanded  that  a  truce  be  pro- 
claimed and  observed  in  company.  Thus  knights 
pass  by  on  the  right,  the  shield  being  held  on 
the  left  arm.  The  helmet  was  removed  to  the 
lady  or  even  to  the  liege  as  a  token  of  submission. 
The  smile  betokened  the  lack  of  serious  hostile 
intentions.  Even  the  hand  clasp  may  have  been 
adopted  as  a  mutual  surrender  of  the  power  to 
harm,  while  the  giving  of  the  left  hand  was  for 
obvious  reasons  a  deadly  offence. 


192      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL1  IDEAL 

Passing  to  the  competitive  period,  we  find  the 
giving  of  gifts  and  particularly  of  entertain- 
ments such  as  the  banquet  the  height  of  social 
etiquette.  Although  much  of  the  etiquette  of 
previous  periods  is  retained  in  form,  much  has 
been  added  of  more  vital  meaning.  Competi- 
tion is  restrained  by  law  in  the  case  of  marriage. 
The  betrothed  couple  are  no  longer  under  its 
sway.  It  is  eliminated  in  the  family  in  eco- 
nomic affairs:  noticeably  in  the  case  of  table 
manners.  At  receptions  to  rush  for  seats  is  not 
exactly  good  form,  whatever  practice  may  still 
be  recognised  as  proper  in  the  street  car.  Thus 
we  see  competition  ideally  abolished,  at  first  in 
the  more  limited  sphere  of  the  home,  then  in  the 
larger  circle  of  good  company.  Since  etiquette 
represents  nothing  so  much  as  ideal  conduct  un- 
der ideal  surroundings  it  is  most  significant  that 
we  find  it  already  prohibiting  all  forms  of  serious 
competition. 

The  coming  form  of  selection  which  is  to  re- 
place competition  has  been  seen  to  be  decision. 
It  remains  but  to  state  briefly  by  whom  the  de- 
cisions are  to  be  rendered  and  something  regard- 
ing their  probable  nature  in  the  principal 
spheres  of  human  activity  and  interest. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS 

WE  have  first  to  consider  what  form  of  govern- 
ment the  people  really  desire, —  what  form  would 
be  reached  by  rather  than  required  for  popular 
decision.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the 
rank  and  file  would  choose  the  purest  democracy. 
At  least  until  the  "  despotism  of  the  masses " 
was  grievously  felt  by  the  masses  themselves,  it 
is  altogether  probable  that  they  would  insist 
upon  virtually  direct  rule  by  themselves.  "  Con- 
sciousness of  kind"  is  a  sufficient  reason  why 
the  masses  would  trust  only  the  masses  in  pref- 
erence to  rulers  supposed  to  be  committed  to 
their  interests. 

Thus  socialism  not  only  requires  but  invokes 
the  purest  democracy  in  effect  if  not  in  form. 
And  socialists  criticise  our  present  attempts  to 
do  democratic  work  with  republican  machinery. 
For  this  requirement  leads  to  several  demands 
which  we  should  recognise  in  this  connection. 
For  instance,  if  the  people  are  to  govern  directly 
it  is  necessary  that  the  widest  publicity  prevail. 
Even  the  crudest  and  wildest  ideas  must  have  an 

183 


184       SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

opportunity  to  be  heard  in  full,  if  only  to  be  re- 
pudiated. It  is  not  accidental  that  socialists 
have  everywhere  always  stood  for  free  public  ex- 
pression of  opinion,  even  of  that  of  their  worst 
enemies,  the  anarchists.  Public  debate  is  among 
them  the  most  highly  appreciated  form  of  enter- 
tainment. Nor  is  it  an  accident  that  "no  two 
socialists  agree."  Independence  of  judgment  is 
the  prized  possession  of  every  socialist.  Their 
political  platforms  are  decided  upon  in  caucuses 
in  which  every  member  is  privileged  to  suggest 
planks  and  amendments  and  to  secure  their 
adoption  if  they  can  prove  them  acceptable.  And 
then  the  whole  platform  is  submitted  piecemeal 
to  a  referendum  vote  of  all  party  members. 

The  socialist  party  is  organised  not  from  the 
top  down  but  from  the  bottom  up.  Nominations 
are  by  petition  and  informal  ballot.  Each  indi- 
vidual member  expresses  his  decision  in  regard 
to  the  availability  of  any  suggested  candidate. 
The  central  organisation  merely  collates  and 
canvasses  the  vote.  In  other  parties  the  con- 
vention usually  selects  the  candidate  without  in- 
structions. 

Politics  has  always  been  the  art  of  defending 
a  privileged  class  against  the  encroachments  of 
the  exploited.  Early  political  systems  spring  di- 
rectly from  either  religious  or  military  power. 
Later  systems  are  based  upon  vested  rights  — 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  185 

economic  rights  in  the  main,  and  those  the  rights 
of  property.  Our  constitution  shows  regard  for 
the  rights  of  property  at  least  equal  to  that  for 
the  rights  of  persons.  Indeed  it  was  freely  pre- 
dicted that  property  would  not  be  safe  in  a  re- 
public. So  far,  however,  property  has  received 
more  than  due  consideration.  How  much 
greater  will  be  the  popular  support  of  the  real 
rights  of  private  property  when  all  feel  person- 
ally interested  in  the  matter?  Under  socialism 
however  we  may  be  assured  that  property  would 
receive  no  direct  consideration.  Only  as  it  min- 
isters to  the  needs  of  man  would  property  pos- 
sess "rights." 

"  Socialism  is  science  applied  to  all  realms  of 
human  activity/'  26  says  Bebel.  In  fulfilling  this 
ideal,  socialism  must  apply  practically  the  find- 
ings of  political  science.  Scientific  political  ad- 
justment requires  first  of  all  that  the  deciding 
power  should  be  vested  in  those  who  would  be 
unfavourably  affected  by  a  wrong  decision.  The 
fighting  male  population  is  the  element  worst 
affected  by  a  wrongful  decision  in  favour  of  war. 
The  chief  argument  for  allowing  them  to  vote 
has  in  the  past  been  this  liability.  Let  no  man 
and  no  class  be  forced  into  war.  Women  may  be 
most  affected  by  loose  marriage  laws.  The  ig- 
norant may  be  most  abused  through  fraudulent 

25  Woman  and  Socialism,  p.  500. 


186      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

advertisements;  the  reputable  by  slander,  etc. 
But  since  each  class  must  submit  its  proposals 
to  a  tribunal  including  a  preponderating  element 
of  those  not  directly  concerned,  at  no  time  would 
any  small  class  be  able  to  override  the  whole 
scientifically  organised  political  unit. 

A  majority  vote  as  a  requirement  to  pass  legis- 
lation would  seemingly  be  a  sufficient  check  on 
class  domination.  No  class  is  in  the  majority. 
A  majority  can  be  obtained  only  by  an  advocacy 
of  general  wants  and  needs.  If  desirable  any 
other  proportion  for  the  enactment  of  laws,  such 
as  three-fourths,  might  be  required  instead.  The 
majority  rule  was  chosen  to  indicate  and  fore- 
shadow the  probable  result  of  a  physical  contest* 
Considering  the  increasingly  large  proportion  of 
non-combatants,  it  may  be  that  the  proportion 
required  could  safely  be  placed  higher. 

It  may  be  noted  that  in  any  case  exercise  of 
democracy  is  bound  to  result  in  a  continual 
kneading  of  society.  This  follows  from  the  fact 
that  only  those  who  are  especially  privileged  are 
satisfied  with  conditions  as  they  are.  All  others 
have  something  to  gain  by  the  overthrow  of  the 
privileged.  And  since  those  who  hold  the  bal- 
ance of  power  can  not  command  the  support  of 
those  above  them  in  thus  bringing  about  the 
overthrow  of  such  privilege  as  has  grown  up, 
they  must  needs  appeal  to  those  below.  The  lat- 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  187 

ter  will  respond  only  if  it  is  made  worth  their 
while.  Hence  they  may  count  on  the  support  of 
the  middle  class  in  general.  It  is  only  when  the 
limited  few,  so  privileged  as  to  be  more  likely  to 
lose  than  to  gain  through  any  upheaval,  have 
been  in  power  that  a  static  condition  of  society 
has  prevailed.  This  can  be  clearly  seen  to  fol- 
low from  the  fact  that  all  the  less  privileged 
portion  of  society  may  gain  at  the  expense  of  the 
more  favoured,  while  only  a  portion  of  the  more 
favoured  will  be  at  any  time  anxious  to  maintain 
the  status  quo.  As  Marx  has  shown,  it  is  this 
cause  that  has  brought  about  the  extension  of 
the  franchise  to  the  less  favoured  classes,  and  it 
is  this  cause  which  will  continually  induce  the 
less  favoured  portion  of  the  privileged  to  seek 
the  support  of  the  proletariat. 

Democracy  is  the  necessary  correlary  to  so- 
cialism, because  any  opportunity  for  rule  by  the 
man  who  possesses  an  advantage  will  but  allow 
him  to  increase  that  advantage.  Thus  arose 
laws  favouring  vested  rights.  Man  has  ever  tried 
to  legislate  himself  into  a  position  of  artificial 
advantage  over  others.  If  however  all  men  have 
equal  opportunity  to  secure  legislation,  and  each 
must  submit  his  legislative  propositions  to  all, 
no  further  safeguard  for  the  preservation  of  in- 
dividual liberty  could  be  devised.  None,  we  are 
convinced,  will  be  needed. 


188      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

The  betterment  in  the  condition  of  the  poor 
under  socialism  follows  from  the  probable  at- 
tempt on  the  part  of  the  majority  to  better  their 
condition.  Those  below  the  average  would  nat- 
urally utilise  the  government  as  an  agency  to 
raise  themselves  up  to  the  standing  of  others. 
There  can  never  long  be  a  majority  far  below 
the  average  under  a  real  democracy.  In  this 
sense  alone  socialism  is  a  levelling  process.  It  is 
a  levelling  upward,  not  downward.  As  long  as 
a  majority  felt  that  there  was  anything  to  be 
gained  by  a  change  in  industrial  relations,  that 
change  would  be  effected  by  legislation.  It  is 
even  conceivable  that  if  a  majority  persisted  in 
idleness  or  unproductiveness,  the  minority  of  the 
workers  might  be  mulcted  of  the  fruits  of  their 
toil.  Although  it  is  extremely  improbable  that 
this  would  under  any  conditions  reach  anything 
like  the  proportions  of  the  capitalistic  exploita- 
tion of  the  present,  it  might  be  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent the  success  of  socialism  among  a  barbarous 
people  who  had  never  been  schooled  into  habits 
of  regular  exertion,  especially  in  view  of  their 
lower  productive  capacity.  But  among  civilised 
peoples,  a  drone  or  an  aggregation  of  drones 
could  not  fail  to  be  as  quickly  felt  to  be  a  menace 
to  the  body  industrial  as  is  a  similar  criminal 
aggregation  to  the  body  politic.  It  is  probable 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  189 

that  man  has  advanced  nearly  if  not  quite  as  far 
in  habits  of  industry  as  in  habits  of  orderliness. 
Thus  he  is  today  approximately  as  well  fitted  to 
govern  himself  industrially  as  he  is  to  govern 
himself  politically. 

Would  socialism  abolish  classes  such  as  are 
at  present  interested  in  a  selfish  way  in  the  re- 
sults of  elections?  Probably  not  entirely.  It 
is  likely  that  the  workmen  in  one  occupation 
might  still  aim  at  advantage  over  those  of  other 
industries.  But  with  the  freedom  of  movement 
of  these  fellow  workers,  whom  they  could  not 
debar  from  entering  any  favoured  occupation, 
their  advantage  would  be  fleeting  at  most.  It 
is  more  likely  that  it  could  not  be  obtained  at 
all,  for  the  larger  number  of  workers  of  other  in- 
dustries neutral  to  the  contention,  would  serve 
as  a  system  of  checks  and  balances  against  any 
group  legislation. 

In  general  the  aims  of  the  socialistic  society 
might  be  presumed  to  be  such  as  the  less  favoured 
part  of  the  people  would  find  to  their  advantage. 
For  the  first  time  the  underlings  would  have  a 
decisive  voice  in  affairs  industrial  as  they  already 
have  in  things  political.  And  as  the  physically 
weak  or  peacefully  inclined  have  instituted  gov- 
ernmental restraints  upon  those  who  are  stronger 
or  more  aggressive,  so  we  might  expect  would 


190      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  less  successful  industrially  institute  re- 
straints upon  those  who  would  exploit  their 
need. 

Would  this  rule  prove  inimical  to  the  gifted? 
It  seems  highly  probable  that  there  would  be  a 
considerable  levelling  process,  so  far  as  material 
rewards  are  concerned.  Since  the  common  peo- 
ple would  be  in  a  clear  majority  they  could,  if 
they  chose,  give  themselves  the  higher  rewards, 
except  that  they  could  not  slight  genius  to  the 
extent  of  making  its  payment  less  than  the  indi- 
vidual genius  was  willing  to  earn  in  common  pur- 
suits. Further,  scarcity  talents  could  as  at  pres- 
ent command  whatever  their  possessor  chose  to 
demand,  within  the  commonly  felt  limits  of  their 
value  to  the  society. 

We  cannot  believe  that  the  people  would  all  at 
once  lose  their  tendency  to  hero  worship  either. 
Those  who  accomplished  most  for  the  good  of 
mankind  would  undoubtedly  always  receive  the 
rewards  of  a  grateful  society.  In  the  case  of  men 
of  talent  unwilling  to  serve  without  extra  com- 
pensation it  will  be  easy  to  persuade  the  people 
to  furnish  the  greater  reward.  They  will  simply 
not  be  left  to  struggle  with  each  other  for  that 
reward  as  at  present. 

The  main  disadvantage  of  the  competitive  sys- 
tem from  the  point  of  view  of  sociological  and 
economic  idealism,  is  that  there  are  two  alterna- 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  191 

tive  ways  to  achieve  success.  First  to  wrest  it 
from  nature  to  the  benefit  of  mankind,  second  to 
wrest  it  from  the  accumulation  of  those  who  have 
previously  wrested  it  from  nature.  If  only  the 
first  of  these  alternatives  were  possible  we  could 
not  complain  so  bitterly  of  the  competitive  sys- 
tem, although  it  would  still  remain  indirect  war- 
fare and  subject  to  all  the  disadvantages  of  the 
latter.  But  the  second  method  of  acquisition  is 
resorted  to  with  frequency  corresponding  to  the 
increasing  surplus  above  the  subsistence  demands 
of  the  producers.  This  iniquitous  practice  can- 
not possibly  be  abolished  under  capitalism.  The 
very  rewards  distinctive  of  capitalism  —  rent,  in- 
terest, and  profits  —  are  all  unearned ;  or  worse, 
earned  at  the  expense  of  others. 

Interest,  for  example,  lays  tribute  upon  him 
who  would  compete  on  equal  terms  with  those 
who  have  the  obvious  advantages  implied  in  the 
possession  of  capital.  Eent  is  a  like  tribute  upon 
him  who  would  partake  of  equal  natural  ad- 
vantages with  those  who  are  well  provided  with 
the  same.  Profit  is  the  direct  result  of  depriv- 
ing others  of  the  full  fruits  of  their  production. 
Profit  is  the  most  indefensible  of  the  three,  for 
it  is  achieved  through  competition  as  is  success 
in  a  battle  of  direct  warfare,  without  any  re- 
gard whatever  for  those  killed  or  maimed  in  the 
contest:  with  this  difference,  that  whereas  in 


192      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

direct  warfare  each  is  obliged  to  consider  the 
loss  to  his  own  forces,  under  competition  all  the 
labour  world  is  the  recruiting  ground  for  the 
forces  on  both  sides,  neither  being  in  the  least 
obliged  to  husband  his  resources,  but  resting  se- 
cure in  the  consciousness  that  every  man  who 
falls  on  his  side  is  one  less  possible  recruit  for 
the  enemy. 

That  a  free  for  all  contest  of  this  sort  should 
be  tolerated  by  the  mere  pawns  in  the  game  i« 
unthinkable,  once  they  understand  the  nature  of 
the  conflict  and  possess  the  means  to  bring  it  to 
an  end-  The  first  would  necessarily  be  assured 
before  socialism  could  even  triumph  at  the  polls, 
while  the  victory  of  socialism  would  itself  pro- 
vide the  second. 

There  prevails  at  present  in  the  industrial 
world  the  purest  anarchy,  unrecognised  as  simi- 
lar to  civic  anarchy  only  because  its  method  of 
conflict  is  indirect  and  largely  impersonal. 
When  a  workers  wages  are  reduced  he  does  not 
realise  that  he  is  being  pitted  in  endurance 
against  another  far-off  worker,  whose  wages  are 
at  the  same  time  being  reduced  by  the  businew 
rival  of  his  own  employer.  But  such,  as  we 
know,  is  the  case.  Whichever  wins,  each  worker 
is  certain  to  be  forced  down  as  far  as  possible, 
and  competition  between  him  and  his  fellows  is 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  193 

certain  to  make  the  limit  only  that  of  endur- 
ance. 

The  suicidal  nature  of  this  conflict  is  sure  to 
be  apparent  even  before  socialism  can  be  suc- 
cessful as  a  political  power.  It  is  extremely  un- 
likely that  it  will  be  forgotten  once  industrial 
democracy  is  established.  Hence  we  are  correct 
in  predicting  that  socialism  will  utterly  abolish 
competition.  We  have  already  seen  how  decision 
will  replace  it.  Economic  conditions  will  be 
under  artificial  regulation  on  ideal  grounds. 

Equality,  that  sine  qua  non  of  the  extreme  in- 
dividualist, has  been  set  up  by  some  socialists 
as  the  aim  of  ideal  social  development.  But  it  is 
no  essential  element  of  the  socialist  programme. 
Only  in  the  form  of  equal  opportunities  and  that 
degree  of  equality  of  compensation  which  the 
lower  half  of  society  deem  just  and  expedient 
will  equality  prevail  in  the  socialist  community. 
Its  real  stronghold  is  in  individualism,  as 
claimed  by  its  sponsors,  the  pre-revolutionists  of 
the  18th  Century.  The  reason  of  this  is  not  far 
to  seek. 

A  state  of  equilibrium  under  individualism 
must  imply  the  absence  of  unadapted  inferiors 
who  are  being  "  survived."  All  must  be  fittest, 
The  struggle  goes  on  until  this  point  is  deter- 
mined and  enforced  by  the  elimination  of  the 


194      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

vanquished.  But  unless  there  is  to  be  one  single 
sole  survivor,  there  must  be  a  community  of 
strictly  equal  and  so  evenly  balanced  survivors. 
The  battle  between  these  must  be  a  draw.  This 
is  possible  only  on  the  assumption  of  equality. 
Under  individualism  we  are  driven  to  choose  be- 
tween unending  struggle  and  an  absolute  equal- 
ity. Humanitarianism  is  demanding  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  struggle.  It  is  small  wonder  that  the 
philosophers  of  individualism  have  seen  the  solu- 
tion of  this  state  of  conflict  solely  in  equality. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  equality  is  to  prevail  under 
socialism  it  is  because  of  no  necessity  in  the  case, 
but  because  of  its  appeal  to  idealism  —  a  point 
not  by  any  means  as  yet  determined. 

Is  there  an  ideal  of  further  human  evolution? 
We  may  reply  that  each  of  us  has  an  ideal  for 
his  own  immediate  descendants.  Hence  the  ideal 
is  definite  enough;  it  remains  only  to  make  it 
comprehensive,  all  inclusive.  It  is  compara- 
tively easy  to  state  this  ideal  in  negative  terms, 
to  say  what  we  do  not  want.  In  general  we  are 
not  pleased  with  those  characteristics  which  we 
group  together  as  degenerate.  We  certainly  do 
not  want  those  with  physical  infirmity.  Like- 
wise we  condemn  those  whose  moral  qualities  are 
anti-social.  Intellectual  weakness  is  seldom  de- 
fended. 

When  we  turn  to  the  positive  statement  of 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  195 

ideal  eugenics,  we  find  more  possibilities  of  dis- 
agreement. For  while  some  admire  the  meek- 
ness which  is  to  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven, 
others  prefer  the  practical  shrewdness  which 
leads  to  personal  success  at  the  expense  of  others. 
The  latter  preference  is  an  instinct  that  finds 
encouragement  in  the  present  constitution  of  so- 
ciety. We  should  be  troubled  with  regressions 
to  it  in  any  society,  for  it  dates  back  to  more 
primitive  times.  Meanwhile  we  can  note  that 
those  whom  we  deem  most  idealistic  at  the  pres- 
ent time  are  unmistakably  on  the  side  of  the 
Christian  ideal.  It  seems  likely  that  a  large 
majority  can  and  will  accept  this  as  their  ideal, 
as  soon  as  the  state  of  social  conditions  renders 
it  anything  but  an  encumbrance  in  the  struggle 
for  existence  of  the  individual. 

It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  stated  that  there 
will  be  no  settled  iron-clad  institutions  under 
socialism.  Socialism  is  science  applied  to  all 
the  affairs  of  life,  says  Bebel.  Increasing  knowl- 
edge requires  constant  readaptation.  Hence 
there  will  be  no  demand  on  the  part  of  society 
that  morality  crystalise  into  a  system  of  estab- 
lished dogmas.  And  as  with  morality  so  with 
religion.  A  state  religion  consisting  of  a  pre- 
scribed creed  expressed  in  a  ceremonial  and  in- 
sisting upon  an  adherence  to  orthodox  doctrine 
\vould  certainly  be  done  away  with  by  socialism 


196      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

and  to  this  extent  the  criticism  that  "  socialism 
is  opposed  to  religion  "  is  justified. 

It  is  even  possible  that  the  status  of  religious 
belief  might  be  affected  in  a  more  positive  man- 
ner. The  religious  element  in  socialism  is 
strong.  Wherever  aspirations  after  an  un- 
realisable  perfection  are  given  free  expression, 
there  is  pure  religion  and  undefiled.  This  is  an 
aspect  of  socialism  itself.  But  it  must  be  care- 
fully distinguished  from  any  particular  demand 
of  socialism  or  the  demands  of  any  particular  so- 
cialist. Socialism  gives  full  play  to  the  religious 
impulses,  but  socialism  is  not  itself  a  religion 
except  to  those  incapable  of  philosophic  vision. 
Once  realised,  the  socialist  plan  of  society  will 
offer  the  form  but  not  the  substance  of  all  future 
progressive  aspirations.  Hence  we  find  that  un- 
der socialism  religion  itself  is  for  the  first  time 
really  free,  not  the  mere  instrument  of  economic 
forces  as  so  universally  today.  It  will  always 
remain  the  complement  of  the  actual  conditions 
of  life  to  be  sure,  but  free  to  exercise  an  inde- 
pendent, uncoerced  influence  upon  the  course  of 
events.  The  battle  between  economic  forces  and 
religion,  disguised  as  theology  against  science, 
will  end  in  the  verging  of  science  into  religion, 
when  the  economic  force  behind  theology  is  with- 
drawn and  philosophy  is  permitted  to  perform 
her  peacemaking  office  of  mediation.  Religion 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  197 

will  then  become  but  a  plastic  body  of  individual 
aspirations,  beliefs  and  principles  of  conduct, 
unbounded  by  anything  except  the  nature  of  the 
believer.  Eevealed  religion  will  be  subject  to 
new  constructions,  and  natural  religion  to  new 
discoveries. 

Religion  thus  becomes  the  embodiment  of  the 
subjective  individual  ideal, —  a  truly  democratic 
interpretation  of  the  universe, —  unrestrained  by 
the  consideration  of  objective  material  ends,  the 
pure  aspiration  of  the  soul.  At  present  we  have 
but  the  efforts  of  oppressed  humanity  to  amelio- 
rate its  sufferings  by  the  conjured  up  vision  of 
rest,  happiness,  recreation,  etc.,  elsewhere  than 
in  this  work-a-day  world.  No  practical  applica- 
tion of  these  aspirations  is  considered  in  good 
form;  they  are  simply  the  means  of  catharsis 
of  the  justice-demanding  instincts.  To  be  sure 
those  portions  of  Christian  doctrine  inciting  to 
self-sacrifice  are  well  thought  of.  They  fit  in 
admirably  with  the  rdle  of  the  proletariat  in  capi- 
talist society.  But  who  ever  heard  of  self-ab- 
negation on  the  part  of  the  captain  of  industry? 
His  character  does  not  fit  the  part,  and  is  not 
expected  to.  We  must  uphold  the  present  sys- 
tem even  in  our  religion. 

It  is  for  freedom  in  religious  practice  that 
many  turn  to  socialism.  Tired  of  a  theology  that 
is  enlisted  in  the  support  of  institutions  of  privi- 


198      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

lege,  desiring  to  adopt  a  faith  actually  fostering 
the  growth  of  character,  and  despairing  of  a  sat- 
isfactory voicing  of  their  own  spiritual  aspira- 
tions from  a  subsidised  pulpit,  they  turn  to  the 
economic  freedom  of  socialism  as  the  necessary 
basis  for  the  development  of  a  religion  which 
will  answer  to  the  demands  of  their  natures. 
This  religion,  uncorrupted  by  the  influence  of 
sordid  motives,  will  be  at  the  disposal  of  the 
masses,  supported  democratically.  It  would 
even  be  safe  to  subsidise  religious  inquiry  under 
such  a  society.  No  class  would  be  powerful 
enough  to  subvert  such  a  research. 

But  religion  under  socialism  will  be  even  more 
than  at  present  the  private  concern  of  the  indi- 
vidual. During  the  Feudal  regime  the  rulers 
were  deeply  concerned  with  the  religious  beliefs 
of  their  subjects,  for  upon  the  efficacy  of  these 
beliefs  depended  the  attitude  of  the  subjects  to- 
ward pre^  ailing  institutions.  Again  during 
monarchical  reign  the  ruler  finds  the  moral  sup- 
port or  at  least  the  sanction  of  religious  beliefs 
the  necessary  condition  of  a  submissive  people. 
Even  a  republic,  if  the  property  possessing  class 
is  to  rule,  must  be  supported  by  the  religious 
views  of  its  citizens.  Otherwise  they  will  be- 
come more  self-seeking  with  disastrous  conse- 
quences to  the  House  of  Have.  The  socialist 
society  alone  can  afford  to  tolerate  any  form  of 


SOCIALIST  AIMS  AND  IDEALS  199 

belief.  No  requirements  of  religious  faith  are 
necessary,  for  each  individual  is  free  to  exert  his 
own  influence  in  his  own  behalf  as  well  as  in  any 
direction  that  his  ideals  may  prompt.  Having 
no  classes,  socialism  has  no  irrational  principles 
to  uphold,  no  vested  rights  to  be  protected,  no 
cherished  institutions  to  be  maintained.  All  is 
fluid,  plastic.  The  reformer,  the  non-conformist, 
is  welcome.  He  may  make  his  influence  tell  to 
the  extent  of  its  natural  appeal.  The  idea  is  as 
ever  under  socialism,  treated  as  an  impersonal 
thing.  It  is  considered  apart  from  its  sponsor. 
This  is  spiritual  freedom. 

We  have  seen  that  socialism  aims  to  free  the 
ideals  of  its  citizens  from  the  domination  of  the 
material  demands  of  economic  necessity,  in  the 
various  spheres  where  ideals  are  normally  active. 
In  establishing  a  new  material  basis  for  society 
it  is  inevitable  that  the  whole  superstructure 
shall  assume  new  forms  and  tendencies.  And 
in  the  case  of  "  the  culture  demanded  by  mod- 
ern civilisation  "  this  can  hardly  have  any  other 
effect  than  to  free  the  entire  realm  of  the  ideal 
culture  from  the  domination  hitherto  imposed 
upon  it  from  below.  That  culture  which  is  for 
the  immense  majority  "a  mere  training  to  act 
as  a  machine "  will  be  replaced  by  a  culture 
whose  nature  is  determined  from  above  and 
whose  characteristic  will  be  such  as  appeals  to 


200      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

the  free  spirit  of  humanity.  The  "  materialistic 
conception  of  history,"  like  the  "  class  struggle  " 
—  both  discovered  or  at  least  pointed  out  by  the 
socialists  —  will  be  eventually  relegated  to  a  past 
era  by  the  same  agency  which  has  been  responsi- 
ble for  their  recognition.  "  It  is  the  ascent  of 
man  from  the  kingdom  of  necessity  to  the  king- 
dom of  freedom." 


CONCLUSION 

WE  have  seen  that  socialism  is  increasingly 
called  for  by  forces  that  are  themselves  augment- 
ing in  a  geometric  ratio.  We  have  seen  that  it 
is  a  concrete  application  of  forces  and  demands 
which  the  sociologist  subjectively  recognises  as 
embodying  his  most  cherished  ideals  for  human 
society.  We  have  noted  that  it  is  part  of  a  gen- 
eral historical  evolution  which  we  can  hardly  ex- 
pect to  be  either  reversed  or  arrested. 

Amidst  all  its  diversities,  which  but  betray 
the  many-sidedness  of  its  origin,  we  have  found 
a  general  unity  of  purpose  and  method.  The 
purpose  is  nothing  less  than  the  control  of  the 
further  progress  of  civilisation  by  man,  and  the 
method  that  of  decision  in  place  of  warfare  or 
competition.  Both  are  in  line  with  historical 
evolution  as  it  has  progressed  hitherto,  and  each 
has  for  a  long  time  been  operative  in  the  sphere 
of  the  individual.  Their  extension  to  society  is 
the  coming  of  socialism. 

The  advent  of  socialism  cannot  be  prevented, 
thought  it  can  be  retarded  or  hastened,  for  it  is 

the  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  society.     In  the 

201 


202      SOCIALISM  AS  THE  SOCIOLOGICAL  IDEAL 

increasing  attention  given  to  schooling  and 
eugenics  we  see  the  universal  consciousness  of 
this.  At  most  if  the  particular  plan  adopted  in 
any  attempted  socialist  state  were  to  fail  to  at- 
tain that  intelligent  decision  by  which  it  should 
be  marked,  it  could  hardly  revert  to  anything 
worse  than  our  present  competitive  system.  The 
world  moves  rapidly  since  universal  communica- 
tion has  been  established  and  lost  trails  would 
quickly  be  recovered.  We  can  not  remain  sta- 
tionary. 

The  weaknesses  of  socialism  are  the  weak- 
nesses of  democracy.  It  cannot  be  denied  that 
such  exist  nor  that  they  would  be  in  some  re- 
spects accentuated  under  socialism,  though  in 
other  respects  they  might  be  minimised.  First 
steps  are  always  perilous,  as  much  for  the  self- 
directing  society  as  for  the  self-directing  indi- 
vidual. But  society  must  accept  the  responsi- 
bilities of  maturity  no  less  than  the  individual. 
The  tow-lines  of  natural  selection  are  already 
cast  off,  and  as  the  socialist  state  gathers  head- 
way we  can  only  hope  that  she  will  answer  to  the 
helm. 

The  intelligence  that  sits  in  the  pilot  house  is 
social  self  consciousness.  Never  again  having 
once  attained  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil 
can  humanity  return  to  the  blissful  ignorance  of 
a  reliance  upon  natural  environment  and  a  de- 


CONCLUSION  203 

pendence  upon  natural  selection.  The  future  of 
human  society  is  delivered  over  into  the  direction 
of  man  himself.  May  he  prove  equal  to  the  re- 
sponsibility which  thus  devolves  upon  him. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bax,  Ernest  B.:  The  Ethics  of  Socialism.  (Chas.  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons.) 

Blackmar,  Frank  W.:  Elements  of  Sociology.  The  Mac- 
millan  Co. 

Bebel,  August:  Woman  and  Socialism.  Socialist  Litera- 
ture Co. 

Blatchford,  Robert:  Merrie  England:  God  and  My  Neigh- 
bor. Chas.  H.  Kerr  &  Co. 

Bliss,  W.  D.  P.:  Handbook  of  Socialism.  (Chas.  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons.) 

Brooks,  John  Graham:  The  Social  Unrest.  The  Macmil- 
lan  Co. 

Bttcher,  Carl :    Industrial  Evolution.    Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

Campbell,  J.  R. :    Christianity  and  the  Social  Order.    The 

Macmillan  Co. 

Cathrein-Gettelmann :    Socialism.    Benziger  Bros. 
Carver,  Thomas  N. :    Sociology  and  Social  Progress.    Ginn 

&  Co. 

Devine,  Edward  T. :  Misery  and  Its  Causes.  The  Macmil- 
lan Co. 

Ely,  Richard  T. :    Socialism  and  Social  Reform.    Thomas 

Y.  Crowell  &  Co. 
Engels,    Friederich:     Socialism,    Utopian    and    Scientific: 

Origin  of  the  Family.    Chas.  H.  Kerr  &  Co. 
Ensor,    R,.    C.    K.    (Editor)  :    Modern    Socialism.     (Chas. 

Scribner's  Sons.) 

205 


206  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Galton,  Francis:  Sociological  Papers,  1905.  The  Macmil- 
lan  Co. 

Giddings,  Franklin  H. :  Inductive  Sociology :  Descriptive 
and  Historical  Sociology:  Democracy  and  Empire. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

Ghent,  W.  J. :  Mass  and  Class :  Our  Benevolent  Feudal- 
ism. The  Macmillan  Co.  Socialism  and  Success. 
John  Lane  Co. 

Griggs,  Edward  H. :  The  New  Humanism :  Human  Equip- 
ment. B.  W.  Huebsch. 

Guthrie,  William  B. :  Socialism  before  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. The  Macmillan  Co. 

Hardie,  J.  Keir:  From  Serfdom  to  Socialism.  George  Al- 
len. London. 

Headley,  F.  W. :  Darwinism  and  Modern  Socialism. 
Methuen  &  Co.  London. 

Hill,  Chatterton:  Heredity  and  Selection  in  Sociology. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

Hillquit,  Morris:  Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice.  The 
Macmillan  Co. 

Hobhouse,  Leonard  T. :  Democracy  and  Reaction.  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons. 

Hobson,  John  A.:  The  Social  Problem;  The  Economics  of 
Distribution.  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Home,  Herman  H. :  Idealism  in  Education.  The  Mac- 
millan Co. 

Howerth,  Ira  W. :  Work  and  Life.  Sturgis  and  Walton 
Co. 

Hughan,  Jessie  Wallace:  American  Socialism  of  the  Pres- 
ent Day ;  The  Facts  of  Socialism.  John  Lane  Co. 

Hunter,  Robert:  Poverty;  Socialists  at  Work.  The  Mac- 
millan Co. 

Kauffrnan,    Reginald    Wright:    What    is    Socialism?    Mof- 

fat,  Yard  &  Co. 
Kautsky,  Karl:    The  Class  Struggle.    Chas.  H.  Kerr  &  Co. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  207 

Kelly,  Edmond:  Government  or  Human  Evolution;  Twen- 
tieth Century  Socialism.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

Kirkup,  Thomas:  History  of  Socialism.  The  Macmillan 
Co.  Inquiry  into  Socialism.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

Lloyd,  Henry  D. :  Wealth  against  Commonwealth.  Harper 
&  Bros.  Man,  the  Social  Creator.  Doubleday,  Page  & 
Co. 

London,  Jack:    War  of  the  Classes.    The  Macmillan  Co. 

MacDonald,  J.  Ramsay:    The  Socialist  Movement.    Henry 

Holt  &  Co. 
MacKaye,    James:    The    Economy    of    Happiness.    Little, 

Brown  &  Co. 
Mallock,     W.     H. :    Critical     Examination     of     Socialism. 

Harper  &  Bros.    Aristocracy  and  Evolution.    The  Mac- 
millan Co. 
Mann,    Newton    M. :    Import    and    Outlook    of    Socialism. 

James  H.  West. 

Marx,  Karl;    Capital.    Chas.  H.  Kerr  &  Co. 
Marx  and  Engels :     The  Communist  Manifesto.     Chas.   H. 

Kerr  &  Co. 
Mathews,     Byron     O.:    Our     Irrational     Distribution    of 

Wealth.    G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 
Morris,   William:    Signs  of  Change.    Longmans,   Green  & 

Co. 

Patten,  Simon  W. :  A  Broader  Basis  of  Civilisation:  The 
Social  Basis  of  Religion.  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Peabody,  Francis  G. :  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Ques- 
tion. The  Macmillan  Co. 

Rauschenbusch,  Walter :    Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis ; 

Christianising  the  Social  Order.    The  Macmillan  Co. 
Reeve,   Sidney  A. :     The  Cost  of  Competition.     Doubleday, 

Page  &  Co. 
Ross,  E.  A.:    Social  Psychology.    The  Macmillan  Co. 


208  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Russel,  Charles  Edward:    Why  I  Am  a  Socialist    Geo.  A. 

Doran  Co.     Business,  the  Heart  of  the  Nation.     John 

Lane  Co. 
Russell,    Harold:    Constructive    Socialism.     (Chas.    Scrib- 

ner's  Sons.) 

Saleeby,  Caleb  Williams:  Parenthood  and  Race  Culture. 
Moffat,  Yard  &  Co. 

Schaffle,  A.:  Quintessence  of  Socialism:  The  Impossi- 
bility of  Social  Democracy.  (Chas.  Scribner's  Sons.) 

Scudder,  Vida  D. :  Socialism  and  Character.  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co. 

Shaw,  Bernard  W. :  Socialism  and  Superior  Brains.  John 
Lane  Co. 

Simons,  A.  M. :  The  American  Farmer.  Chas.  H.  Kerr  & 
Co. 

Sinclair,  Upton:  The  Industrial  Republic.  Doubleday, 
Page  &  Co. 

Skelton,  Oscar  D. :  Socialism,  A  Critical  Analysis.  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Small,  Albion  W. :  General  Sociology.  The  University  of 
Chicago  Press. 

Smith,  James  Allen:  The  Spirit  of  American  Government 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

Snowden,  Philip:  Socialism  and  Syndicalism.  Collins, 
London. 

Spargo,  John :  Socialism ;  The  Bitter  Cry  of  the  Children. 
The  Macmillan  Co. 

Spargo  and  Arner:  Elements  of  Socialism.  The  Macmil- 
lan Co. 

De  Tocqueville,  Alexis:  Democracy  in  America.  D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co. 

Vedder,  H.  C. :  Socialism  and  the  Ethics  of  Jesus.  The 
Macmillan  Co. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  209 

Veblen,    Thorstein:    Theory    of    the    Leisure    Class.    The 
Macmillan  Co. 

Wallace,  Alfred  Russell:    Social  Environment  and  Moral 

Progress.    Cassell  &  Co.,  London. 
Walling,   William   English:    Larger  Aspects  of   Socialism. 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
Ward,    Lester    F. :    Pure    Sociology.    The    Macmillan    Co. 

Applied    Sociology.    Ginn   &   Co.    Dynamic    Sociology. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Weeks,  Arland  D. :    Education  for  Tomorrow.    Sturgis  & 

Walton  Co. 
Wells,    H.    G. :    Anticipations.    Harper    Bros.    First    and 

Last  Things.    G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.    Mankind  in  the 

Making;    A    Modern    Utopia.    Chas.    Scribner's    Sons. 

New  Worlds  for  Old.    The  Macmillan  Co. 

Zueblin,   Charles:    The   Religion   of   a   Democrat.    B.   W. 
Huebsch. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


(See  also  table  of  contents.) 

Abbott,   Lyman,  quoted,   19. 

Advertising,  conspicuousness 
of,  117;  extravagance  of, 
164. 

^Esthetic  order,  involves 
social  order,  67. 

Altruism,  and  solidarity, 
37;  and  the  socialist  com- 
monwealth, 42;  and  social 
responsibility,  43 ;  and 
economic  competition,  141, 
170. 

Anarchist,  philosophical,  23. 

Anarchism,  opposed  to  so- 
cialism, 12,  19;  in  the  fu- 
ture, 79. 

Aristocracy,  and  despotism, 
20. 

Bax,  E.  B.,  quoted,  30. 
Bebel,  August,  quoted,  185. 
Big  business,  morality  of,  4. 
Bismarckian  socialism,  15. 
Bliss,  W.  D.  P.,  quoted,  27. 
Bridge,  society  compared  to, 

Brotherhood  of  man,  73. 
Bureaucracy,  55. 

Capital,  necessity  of,  89, 
105,  181. 

Capitalism,  definition  of, 
110,  113;  r61e  of,  89;  pro- 
ductiveness of,  112 ;  char- 
acteristics of,  113;  not 
self-destructive,  111. 

Caste  system,  displaced  by 
status,  34. 

213 


Caveat  emptor,  135,  167. 

Chance,  elimination  of,  65. 

Charity,  under  socialism,  44. 

Christian  communism,  12. 

Christian  ideal,  195. 

Christianity,  sects  of,  11; 
and  socialism,  23,  73. 

Civil  service,  54,  57. 

Civilisation,  progress  of,  60- 
63. 

Class  consciousness,  increas- 
ing, 81,  85,  86,  115 ;  of  cap- 
italists, 80. 

Classes,  abolished  by  social- 
ism, 45. 

Class  struggle,  labour 
unions  and,  121 ;  abolished 
by  socialism,  200. 

Conscious  adaptation,  126. 

Contract,  system  of,  34. 

Contract  bidding,  54. 

Communism,  primitive,  178, 
180. 

Cooperation,  characteristic 
of  socialism,  21,  87ff.,  105, 
170. 

Cooperative  commonwealth, 
129. 

Competition  industrial,  op- 
posed by  socialism,  21 ; 
displaced  by  cooperation, 
35,  90,  115,  161ff.;  dis- 
placed warfare,  160;  cost 
of,  164. 

Competition,  between  mana- 
gers, 111 ;  among  labour- 
ers, 119. 

Dead  level,  65. 


214 


INDEX 


Debate,  importance  of  under 
socialism,  175,  184. 

Decision,  essential  under 
socialism,  50,  58;  replaces 
natural  selection,  163, 
182;  accompanies  coopera- 
tion, 174. 

Demagogue,  the,  9. 

Democracy,  essential  under 
socialism,  15,  20,  51 ;  polit- 
ical, 33ff. ;  chosen  by  the 
people,  183. 

Direct  action,  161. 

Direct  legislation,  21,  57. 

Division  of  labour,  94,  98. 

Ecclesiastes,  quoted,  166. 

Economic  determinism,   29. 

Education,  127ff. ;  socialism, 
the  apotheosis  of,  131. 

Ely,  R.  T.,  quoted,  15. 

Eminent  domain,  retention 
of,  56. 

Engels,  Frederich,  quoted,  6. 

Environment,  control  of, 
128ff. 

Envy,  socialists  accused  of, 
69. 

Equality,  social,  6,  193. 

Ethics,  Christian,  23;  indi- 
vidual, 38 ;  social,  39. 

Ethical  order,  involves  so- 
cial order,  36. 

Etiquette,  implications  of, 
181,  182. 

Eugenics,  under  socialism, 
127-128,  147ff. 

Factory  system,  101,  106. 

Family  (competition),  abol- 
ished in,  169;  unit  of  so- 
ciety, 95. 

Family   responsibility,   45. 

Farming,  107. 

Fee-simple,  180. 

Freedom  of  speech,  177,  184. 

Freedom,  spiritual,  200. 


Galton,  Francis,  quoted,  12. 
Gambling  instinct,  8,  47,  65. 
Geddes,  quoted,  159. 
Government,     under    social- 
ism, 16,  171. 

Government  ownership,  56. 
Guthrie,  W.  B.,  quoted,  12. 

Headley,  F.  W.,  quoted,  45. 
Heredity,  control  of,  143ff. 
Hughan,      Jessie      Wallace, 

quoted,  28. 

Humanitarianism,   69-70. 
Human  nature,  taken  as  it 

is,   20,    25;    influenced   by 

socialism,  83,  130,  141,  142, 

177. 

Idealism  of  socialists,  6,  10. 

Ideals  of  socialism,  7,  49,  84, 
127,  194. 

Individualism,  philosophical, 
13,  132 ;  political,  17 ;  ethi- 
cal, 23. 

Individuality,  regard  for,  64 ; 
lost  through  specialisa- 
tion, 97. 

Individual  initiative,  156- 
157. 

Industrial  democracy,  30,  59. 

Industrial  unions,  123. 

Initiative  and  referendum, 
21,  57. 

Interest,  191. 

Jury  system,  34. 
Justice,  economic,  6,  29,  191 ; 
regard  for,  64. 

Labourer,  as  fixed  capital, 
118. 

Labour  unions,  58,  59,  115, 
119,  120. 

Laisser  faire,  57,  66,  163. 

Lancaster,  quoted,  156. 

Land,  all  appropriated,  107. 

Lower  half  of  society,  neces- 
sary consideration  for,  41. 


INDEX 


215 


MacDonald,    J.    R.,    quoted, 

59. 
Machinery,    introduction   of, 

104. 

Marx,  Karl,  quoted,  170,  187. 
Materialism,  economic,  166. 
Materialistic    conception    of 

history,  200. 
Monarchy,    displacement   of, 

79. 
Morality     under     socialism, 

195ff. 

Nation,  ultimate  function  of, 
93. 

Natural  selection,  37,  50,  146, 
150,  158. 

Natural  selection  of  capital- 
ists, 104. 

Noblesse  oblige,  14. 

Ochlocracy,  9,  176. 

Organisation,  individuality 
preserved  in,  13ff . ;  demo- 
cratic principle  in,  14;  an 
essential  of  socialism,  48- 
49;  inevitable,  58. 

Organism,  denies  true  per- 
sonality, 13ff. ;  implies 
aristocracy,  14;  in  state 
socialism,  15. 

Otherworldliness,  25,  74. 

Panmixia,  144. 
Paternalism,  4,  46. 
Patriotism,  4,  156. 
Peabody,  Francis  G.,  quoted, 

24. 

Penal  laws,  54. 
Pensions,  52. 
Philanthropy,  72. 
Philosophical  anarchism,  23. 
Piece  work,  103. 
Pleasure  economy,  62,  137. 
Politics,  184. 
Poor  relief,  53. 
Poultry  raising,  108. 
Poverty,  72. 


Predestined  ill,  72. 

Producer,  sacrificed  to  prod- 
uct, 99,  129. 

Professions  exploited,  108, 
109. 

Profit,  191. 

Prohibition,  47. 

Proletariat,  84,  187,  188. 

Property  rights,  179,  185. 

Proportional  representation, 
57. 

Publicity,  177,  183. 

Public  ownership,  55. 

Recall,  21,  57. 

Religion  under  socialism, 
195ff. 

Religion  of  humanity,  76-77. 

Rent,  191. 

Representative  faculty,   175. 

Republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, 20-21. 

Responsibility,  individual 
and  social,  24,  43ff. 

Reversed  selection,  147,  150. 

Saleeby,  C.  W.,  quoted,  146, 
147,  148,  149,  151,  155. 

Scholar,  influence  of,  138. 

Science,  applied  in  socialism, 
39. 

Scientific  sociology,  38. 

Self-consciousness,  progres- 
sive enlargement  of,  75ff. 

Sexual  selection,  148. 

Sin,  not  cause  of  poverty, 
72. 

Skelton,  O.  D.,  quoted,  21. 

Slavery,  33,  59,  89. 

Socialisation,  63ff. 

Socialised  self,  76. 

Socialism,  alternatives  to, 
22 ;  the  next  step,  79 ;  pre- 
liminary definition  of,  7, 
28;  sociological  definition, 
40. 

Socialist  Party,  184. 


216 


INDEX 


Social  reform,  distinguished 
from  socialism,  48ff. 

Social  responsibility,  24,  43. 

Social  self-consciousness, 
awakening,  37ff. ;  applica- 
tion of,  77;  evolution  of, 
125. 

Social  unrest  11,  32. 

Sociological  ideal,  the,  em- 
braced in  socialism,  10. 

Sociologist,  the,  a  reformer, 
68. 

Sociology,  scientific  applica- 
tion of  in  socialism,  10,  38. 

"Solidarity,"  the  social 
motto,  43. 

Solidarity  of  labor,  37. 

Specialisation,  95,  105. 

Spiritual  freedom,  199. 

Spiritual  implications  of  so- 
cialism, 29. 

Spiritual  inheritance,  in 
civilisation,  61. 

State  Socialism,  15,  55. 

State  welfare  work,  142. 

Subsidised  pulpit,  198. 

Superstition,  139. 

Systemisation  of  human  en- 
deavour, 65. 


Sympathy,  increase  of,  71ff. 

Tournament,  competition 
compared  to,  36. 

Tusts,  59,  115,  119,  120,  122, 
123. 

Tyranny,  alternative  to  so- 
cialism, 8. 

Unearned  increment,  46,  191. 

Vale,  C.  H.,  quoted,  30. 
Vedder,  H.  C.,  quoted,  12. 


Wage  slavery,  93,  101. 
Wallace,      Alfred      Russell, 

quoted,  149. 
War,  and  socialism,  54. 
Warfare,  158,  178. 
Willard,  Frances  E.,  quoted, 

74. 

Woman,  emancipation  of,  6. 
Woman  suffrage,  33,  79,  176, 

185. 
Worker  of  marginal  utility, 

116-117. 
Working  class  and  socialism, 

9. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


OCT    6    i942 


'•  "'• 


II 





* 


pr^***  * 


--- 


en 


LD  21-i 


YB 


302388 


//*  & 
-- 


UNIVERSITV  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


i  ".  s  iiiS!i  lilii!   I  !ii!l   l!l    I 


